Conan vs Kid vs Lupin
by devis cope
Summary: A Kid heist becomes complicated when Lupin III joins in on the fun. But with the appearence of a person named Champagne, things start becoming dangerous. What's the connection between Haibara, Lupin and Champagne? And why is Lupin acting strangely? Can both Conan and Kaito figure out what's going on before everyone becomes a target?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Four people were in an abandoned building apartment. It wasn't too abandoned; there were still some people who lived there. The four usually stayed in these types of places; they're cheap and prying eyes won't come here. One man sat cross-legged on the floor, still as a tree; his eyes closed. Another man was lying on an old couch, a lit cigarette in his mouth. A woman walked from her chair near the window, the late afternoon sun shining though the glass. She stopped, arms folded, next to a third man who was on another chair. He was staring straight ahead at a dartboard which had four pictures tacked in it. He also juggled four darts in his hands.

"Why won't you let us come with you?" the woman demanded.

"I've been wondering that myself," agreed the cigarette man, albeit resentfully. He gave a sharp look to the woman.

"Humph," she said and looked away.

"I also would like to know why," said the first man. He opened one eye and quickly rose, staring at the third man.

At first, the third man didn't answer. Staring at the dartboard, he gave a plain smile. He chuckled drily and said, "I don't know."

The other three stared at him. The cigarette man sat up on the couch, looking intently at the third man's back. "If you don't know… then that means what you are going to do might be dangerous and you feel you don't want to put us through it." He puffed on his cigarette and blew out smoke. "We know you. And you know that we'll be with you no matter what. So tell us, what are you looking for?"

The woman sat on the third man's lap, rubbing his face. "Are you looking for treasure without us??" She then wined, "Please tell us, pleeeeese." The cigarette man humphed and looked away, annoyed. The first man sighed a little and sat next to the cigarette man; the cigarette man made room for him.

The third man chuckled again. He looked at the woman and the two men. Smiling, he took out a picture and gave it to the woman. Her eyes widened in shock. Kissing the picture lovingly, she rose from the third man's lap and forcefully sat between the two men. Their sudden annoyance vanished upon looking at the picture. The picture contained two glass shoes that wielded large pink diamonds, four each on their toes and heels.

"The Princess Diamonds," announced the third man. "The shoes are cool enough but the real prize is the diamonds. It's gonna be presented in the birthday party of a famous actor, three days from now."

"So what's the problem?" said the cigarette man. He threw his finished cigarette in a nearby trash can. He pointed at the pictures on the dartboard. "Them?"

"Yes and no," said the third man. "I'll actually explain everything in the plane ride to Tokyo."

"Tokyo?" asked the woman.

"Yes, my dear, Tokyo. The party is going to be in Beika City." He turned to his associates. "So, what do you say?"

"I'm in," said the first man.

"I'm in," said the cigarette man. Yet he frowned somewhat.

"So am I!!" cried the woman. She rushed and kissed the third man in the lips. Before it went further, she stopped and added, "More when we get it."

The third man sighed and turned around, his back to the others. "I will find them!" he muttered, too low for anyone to hear. He looked at the four darts in his hand and threw them. They all hit their targets at the same time, the dead center of the foreheads. One picture was that of a middle-aged man with a mustache and a dumbfounded look on his face. The second was a dark-skinned high-school boy with a smug smile. The third was another high-school boy but light-skinned and with a smug smile. The last was an elementary school boy in glasses with strangely similar features to the second high-school boy, deep in thought.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer I don't own Detective Conan, Magic Kaito, and the third series

**Disclaimer **I don't own Detective Conan, Magic Kaito, and the third series.

**Introduction **my names devis cope. This is my first posting of a story. It is my first story involving Detective Conan. And PLEASE, PLEASE rate and review and I hope you enjoy this fan fiction. 

Chapter 2

"Aaachoo!"

Conan Edogawa blew his nose in a tissue. _I know I'm not getting a cold._ He has had a strange feeling that began yesterday, even before the sneeze. The feeling's gone now but what replaced it was an uneasiness that something was going to happen. Always, his sixth sense was right. _Something bas is going to happen. Does it have something to do with…._

"Conan-kun! Conan-kun!"

"Wha?" Conan looked up at a little girl. She had a worried look on her face. "Conan-kun, you were staring at that dirty tissue really hard. Are you catching a cold?"

For a couple of long seconds, Conan had no idea who the little girl was. And couldn't understand why she was calling him 'Conan'. Then everything came rushing back like a flood. He coughed to snap himself out of it and answered, "Don't worry, Ayumi-chan. I'm fine." Ayumi Yoshida smiled at him and left. He looked around his classroom. It was lunchtime, around noon, so most of the elementary school children were talking to each other, out in the hallway. _That's right. I'm an elementary school kid now. _He turned to Ayumi, who was talking to a tall, light-skinned, freckled boy and a taller, pudgy, tan-skinned boy.

"So … are you really getting a cold, Kudou-kun?"

Conan's eyes went wide and he turned to the desk next to him. A reddish-brown haired girl with solemn yet hard eyes stared at him with a small smile. Conan's eyes thinned and he answered drily, "No, Haibara."

"Really," The girl turned back to reading a book. "I guess someone is talking about you then; you sneezed twice."

"I guess so…," Conan said thinly. Out of everyone in this room she was the only one who knew who he truly was. Then again, he also knew who she was and it was partially her fault that they were both in this predicament to start with.

Conan's real name was actually Shin'ichi Kudou, and he was really a teenage high school student. He was a widely known detective, solving cases for the police when they couldn't. Being a detective was hard work and the most exciting thing about the job was the curiosity to find the truth. Curiosity was also his downfall. After seeing a blackmail in progress and being knocked out by the blackmailer's associate, he was given a poison. Instead of killing him, he found himself shrunken to a child. He knew that if these people, whom he found out later were part of a large criminal organization, found out that he was alive, they would find him and kill him along with anyone who was associated with him, all his family and friends. So he went under an alias and began to live the life of a normal boy. Surprisingly enough, his mind was still that of an adult. This had its benefits but not without risks and consequences. One was now. He'd have to relive elementary school.

"Conan's getting a co-old! Conan's getting a co-old!" cried the pudgy boy. He walked between Conan's and Haibara's desk with a mocking grin.

"Genta-kun! Stop that!" cried the freckled boy. "No he's not… right, Haibara-san?" The last couple of words had a lighter sound to it. Conan shook his head.

Haibara, still looking at her book, answered, "Who knows, Mitsuhiko-kun." Conan stared at her, mouth twitching. _Oy, Oy. Don't make matters worse._ Ai Haibara's name was actually Shiho Miyano, a former Organization member by the codename, 'Sherry'. She was a gifted teenage biochemist and also the creator of the poison that shrunk Conan. She took the poison herself when she rebelled after her sister was killed and they were using her poison without her knowledge. She was able to find Conan and figured out what was going on because of her poison experiments. She learned that while the poison kills it also on rare occasions won't kill but turn someone younger. She also created an alias and came to the same elementary school. Conan knows that she constantly lives in fear that the Organization will find and kill her. _As long as she's here, she'll find a cure and I'll make sure she's safe._

Genta Kojima frowned, staring outside. "What's wrong, Genta-kun?" asked Ayumi. Genta wasn't the only one as children looked outside at a strange sight. Flyers were falling out of the sky. At the same time, their teacher came in. Noticing the flyers, she rushed to the window, shooing some of the children away. She opened the window, to let some of the flyers in. Closing the window, she picked up a paper, along with some other kids, Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya included. He rushed to his friends, frowning somewhat.

"What's up?" asked Conan.

"Let me see!" cried Genta. He tried to snatch the paper but Mitsuhiko dodged.

"Is it something related to Masked Yaiba!?" cried Ayumi. The three real kids loved the action show. Conan, and he believes Haibara too, hates it; it's a very childish show, another consequence of having a mind of an adult.

Mitsuhiko shook his head a little. "I don't know. I can't understand it." He gave the paper to Conan. "If anyone can probably understand it, than it's you, Conan-kun." A benefit of his adult mind was that he knew things that these three didn't know. Since they didn't know kanji, they usually rely on him, or a few times on Haibara, to read it for them.

"Thanks, Mitsuhiko." Conan then for the first time looked at the flyer. His eyes widened. That strange feeling, coupled with that growing uneasiness, came back full force.


	3. Chapter 3

Note: I write these stories on paper before posting them. Why? Less B.S.ing and thinking too much. Also because I can change the words around when typing them. It works for me.

Now on with chapter 3.

* * *

Chapter 3

Kaito Kuroba stared at the flyer along with everyone else in his classroom. All of the students couldn't fully understand the flyer at all; it was written in English. Kaito, on the other hand, could read it easily. It said:

Hello, Beika City! I'm back for the first time, and I've been meaning to test your best detectives. And the funniest and best way is the Beika Hotel Party on Saturday. I'll be stealing the Princess Diamonds from under your nose. Rivals aside, I'll be waiting, 1412.

Yours Truly,

L

"Whose 1412?" asked a student.

"Don't you remember? That's another name for Kaitou Kid," answered another.

"Another thief in Kid's territory? I wonder how he's gonna react?" said a third. "Didn't Kid send out a letter about stealing those Diamonds before this person?"

Mutter… Mutter… Mutter.

Kaito listened to all the conversation. _How Kid will react? Easy. He'll be happy. _He chuckled to himself and sipped his juice carton.

"What are you chuckling for?" Kaito choked and coughed, hitting his chest. Annoyed, he looked up to see his childhood friend, Aoko Nakamori, frowning at him. "This is another disaster for my father and the police. I hate Kaitou Kid and this guy, too. I hope they both get arrested."

"Don't be that upset, Aoko," Kaito gasped. Smirking slyly, he made a flower appear out of nowhere in his hand and gave it to her. Aoko smiled a little and took it. She walked past him and began taking to her friends.

Kaito leaned back in his chair. It was break time, noon, in his high school when these flyers began falling out of the sky, like it was raining paper. He knew Aoko's father, Inspector Ginzo Nakamori, and the rest of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Force are going to have fits. Not only do they have to deal with Kaitou Kid, they now have to deal with this stranger. He gently rubbed his fingers through his dark hair. _I will be happy._ He chuckled again.

Kaito Kuroba leads a double life. One is that of a high school student who has talents as a magician. In this life, he has friends and family (he sniffed when he remembered his father), and pretty much a normal life. The other was that of Kaitou Kid, a young thief dressed in a white suit, cape, and top hat, who steals priceless jewels. He gives the police a run for their money and always gives back what he stole. Kaito leaned back further in his chair, sipping his juice; he had slowly recovered from his choking. He began to stare at the classroom lights, thinking about who this mystery thief was.

"I can tell you who this thief is if you admit that you're Kaitou Kid."

Kaito coughed and choked, hitting his chest. He nearly fell backwards but caught himself. Annoyed, he looked up to see a girl with long black hair and serious eyes staring at him.

"I…have… no… idea…what you…are talking about!" Kaito gasped through coughs. Akako Koizumi smirked.

"So you say. He will be stealing the shoes but actually has a darker aim." She turned and walked away, but continued, "This will not affect you but your rival will be changed by this encounter. The wolf waits for you."

Kaito recovered but wondered about the witch's prophecy. The mystery thief has his own agenda. Maybe, but it probably has nothing to do with the heist. He knew who she was talking about when she said 'rival'. It was that detective kid, Conan Edogawa, who always intervened in his thievery. The wolf comment he didn't understand. He'll figure that out later.

"That thief probably wants to meet me. That'll be interesting," he muttered. But then he sighed. _He only wants a meeting but I bet everyone's gonna say he wants…_

* * *

"… A competition! It's a competition!" cried Inspector Ginzo Nakamori. He paced back and forth in front of a conference room table filled with police officers. "That mystery thief is calling out Kaitou Kid, making a mockery of the police. I say we now watch the entire hotel from top to bottom, inside and out, understand?"

"Yes, sir!" cried the men.

Outside the room, watching trough a window, Inspector Juzo Megure stared at the yelling man and his force and sighed a little. He agreed with Nakamori but he didn't have as much fervor as him. He walked away to the chaotic police station where everyone was rushing over desks and each other. First, Kaitou Kid's usual cryptic message and now the mystery thief's blunt declaration. He wasn't too sure about the competition but he did know that those two are going to meet at the party.

Megure sighed further. _They're going to be there, too._ Three famous detectives, he heard, were invited to the actor Daisuke Yamada's party by the actor himself, hoping that the diamonds that he will put on display will not be taken. One of them was the teen from Osaka, Heiji Hattori. He knew his father Heizo Hattori was in charge of the Osaka Prefecture Police and that his deduction skills rivaled that of Shin'ichi Kudou's. Megure had met Heiji on a few occasions. The other, he hoped, was Shin'ichi Kudou himself. Shin'ichi's father, Yusaku Kudou, had helped Megure and the police in solving crimes despite being a mystery writer. The son was picking up where the father left off. Shin'ichi mysteriously disappeared but has occasionally appeared to help. What Megure thought has strange was that Shin'ichi now didn't want the public to know of Shin'ichi's involvement in the cases. He didn't think about it too much. Megure didn't mind meeting up with Shin'ichi again.

Who he really, _really_, didn't want to see is Kogoro Mouri, aka, Sleeping Kogoro. The man was a former police officer under Megure who now works as a detective. He knew Kogoro's teen daughter, Ran, who was also friends with Shin'ichi and his lawyer wife, Eri Kisaki. Kogoro and Eri are separated but still married. He also knew of a little boy who Ran and Kogoro were taking care of, Conan Edogawa. Conan was a very smart kid and has occasionally helped with police investigations. Ever since Conan lived with them, Kogoro ended up solving cases, strangely through a sleeping appearance and became famous. He let all that fame get to his head and, in Megure's honest opinion, him being there is a harbinger of disaster. Although, Megure thinks it the boy, really.

He took out a small towel and wiped his sweating head. He was extremely tired. To make matters worse, his superior had sent him a memo hours ago telling him that another inspector will be in his precinct and that he must cooperate with him. He wasn't told much about this new inspector except that he was part of an international police force, Interpol, he thought. He sighed again and sat in his desk. A cup of coffee was presented in front of him. A young female cop with short black hair and dressed in a dark red dress suit smiled at him.

"Ah, Sato! Thanks." Megure took the cup and drunk it. Miwako Sato sat on his desk.

"Is there something on your mind, sir?" She looked at him worriedly. He smiled a little. Sato was an officer who transferred here from another precinct. She was a darn good cop who does her job. All the other male officers here admired her, a couple, he thought, liked her. "Two thieves after the same item. And another inspector is coming to take command here."

"No way," Sato said. She frowned. "Do you know who this person is?" Megure shook his head. "I see."

"Right this way, sir."

Megure and Sato looked up to see another one of his officers, Wataru Takagi, walking in with another man holding a beige coat and hat in one hand and a letter with the other. Megure was so stunned at this man that he suddenly got up and cried, "YOU!!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at Megure and the man. Even Inspector Nakamori rushed to see what was wrong. Takagi looked surprised and petrified.

"Uhmmm, Inspector… this is the-" Takagi began.

"You're the inspector in charge of this precinct?" cried the man.

"And you're the inspector whose going to take over temporarily?" cried Megure. Both men walked towards each other. The tension in the room was becoming unbearable. Takagi looked as though he was about to faint. Then they both shook each other's hand and pat each other on the back.

"Long time, no see," they both said.

"Whaa!?" cried Takagi. "You know each other?"

The man nodded, giving Megure the letter. "Both of us weren't inspectors back then but we did occasionally work together in investigations involving our precincts. So Megure-keibu, how are you?" The man frowned as he looked around. "Where's Kogoro?"

As Megure read the letter, he answered, "Doing fine. He quit the force some years ago and is now working as a detective. Didn't you hear of his rising fame as 'Sleeping Kogoro'?" The man shook his head. "Ran is in high school and he and his wife are separated."

The man raised an eyebrow and scratched his chin. "I'm not surprised. They argue more than they make up. That reminds me, I should visit my family. I haven't seen them in years. What about that mystery writer that helps out, Yasaku Kudou?"

Megure's eyes rose over the paper. "He's in America with his wife. Their son is here taking over; he's just like his dad. He's in high school too with Ran." Megure stopped and stared; his eyes were about to come out of their sockets.

"Sir, what's wrong?" Sato asked. Megure gave her the letter and she read along with everyone in the precinct.

"Don't let this get exposed to the public about me being here and about this," said the man. "I also asked your superior as well. I'm only here for the other thief but I'll also help with Kaitou Kid."

Megure nodded as gasps sounded in the entire room. They all stared at the man and began to murmur. Megure went closer to him and muttered, "I'll tell you everything that happened since you left to travel around the world."

"Okay," said the man. Megure backed away to let his old friend take over. The man shouted, "Okay!! I'm now in charge and our main priority is to capture both these thieves. I need all information on Kaitou Kid, the building where the party is taking place, the people who are being invited…" People started to scramble, including Sato, Takagi, and Nakamori, as the man gave out orders. Megure stared at him. _I can't believe that mystery thief is __**that**__ guy. If it's true…then we need all the help we can get._


	4. Chapter 4

I understand you looking but not reviewing. You want to ride this out first then comment.



Chapter 3

Conan was too deep in thought to hear Ran Mouri's voice until her wealthy best friend, Sonoko Suzuki shouted, "HEY, BRAT!!!" close to his ear.

"Ahhh!" he cried. He rubbed his ears and stared coldly at Sonoko. She chuckled and Ran remarked, "Sonoko! You didn't have to do that!"

"Tch. It's not my fault the kid's deaf," Sonoko said. She added, staring at Conan, "What were you thinking about, anyway?"

Conan rummaged in his book bag and took out the flyer. "This."

"So you picked one up too," said Ran as she took out the same flyer from her uniform pocket.

"I heard these were all over the city," said Sonoko. "So about everyone knows about that mystery thief's challenge to Kaitou Kid."

Conan frowned. "I don't think that it's a challenge."

"Who asked you?" said Sonoko flatly.

The three of them were walking to Ran's apartment, which was a three story building with the first floor being a coffee shop, the second floor being her father's detective agency and the last floor, their living quarters. After Shin'ichi became Conan, Ran took him in to live with her and her dad, Kogoro Mouri. In truth, Conan needed Kogoro's skills as a detective to bring him on step closer to the criminal organization. But…

"I can't believe your dad was invited to the party, just because of the warning letters and that he's famous," stated Sonoko.

"Actually, Yamada-san wanted him to bring the entire family, including the person who always corners Kid." Ran looked at Conan.

Conan smirked. His rival, Kaitou Kid, the magician thief, who always gets away but usually ends up not getting the loot, thanks to Conan, was going to be there, in disguise, no doubt. Conan was glad to be going to the party, another chance at Kid. Conan hasn't figure out all of what Kid wrote: he always sends cryptic letters to the police and the victim proclaiming what he was going to steal and where and how he was going to steal it.

Conan frowned at the flyer, though. The uneasy, strange feeling was worse now, all because of what the flyer was saying. He and the teacher lied to the kids about the flyer's message. So Ayumi, Genta, and Matsuhiko thought no more about it. Conan knew that eventually the kids would figure it out and will get mad at him. But, he thinks, they'll understand. This other thief may be a dangerous person, or it may be just a prank. _It's not a prank. My uneasiness proves it. _The way the person sounded, he knew what he was doing. The fact that it rained paper all through the city was evidence. Conan realized that he did this for a couple of reasons. First was to make sure that Kid and anyone that he called out gets it. Second was to create a frenzy. He was an attention grabber, like Kid. What Conan could tell from the letter, this person can speak many languages and chose English for the hell of it. This hinted that he had lived in Japan and was aware of the people's interest in trying to understand the message in a language about everyone is learning.

"I _was_ invited to the party," said Sonoko. Conan snapped out of his deep thought and raising an eyebrow, said, "Then this party will end quickly now, will it?"

BAM!!

Conan ended up with a big bump on his head. Sonoko stared at him and frostily said, "Shut up, pest!"

"Sonoko!" Ran cried as she put her cold can of soda on his head. Sonoko stuck out her tongue.

"You know, if your dad was invited then your husband got invited, too."

"Husband?" Ran's eyes went wide as she blushed. "Shut up?! Shin'ichi's not my husband!"

"So you say." Sonoko chuckled.

Conan stared hard at Sonoko but then noticed Ran looking away, a longing look on her face.

_I wish I can be there as Shin'ichi, Ran._ He was perfectly aware that ran harbored feelings for him. He realized too, that he had feelings for her. But Conan knew he couldn't tell Ran that he was really Shin'ichi in child form. Telling her would put her in danger from being caught by the organization. Even though living with Ran and her dad puts them in danger anyway. To make sure that Ran didn't worry too much, he occasionally called her as Shin'ichi using the Voice-changing Bow-tie. To change the subject, Conan noticed a girl running up to them.

"Ran-neechan, someone's coming up behind us."

Sonoko and Ran stopped and turned to see a girl dressed in the same uniform as them, rushed up and stopped, breathing hard. She bowed and fixed her glasses.

"Kiyone!" cried Sonoko. The girl smiled.

"Kiyone, what are you doing here?" asked Ran. Conan took a while to remember who she was. Kimono Michaud was a junior and was a very quiet girl. She was friends with Sonoko and Sonoko introduced Kimono to Ran and Shin'ichi. Conan wondered what was wrong.

Frowning, she asked, "I wanted to know how Shin'ichi is?" She suddenly blushed at the shocked expressions on all three faces. She added quickly, "I'm sorry. My teacher wanted our class to do an essay on great detectives, because of all the hubbub about the thieves." She looked at the ground. "I decided to do it on Shin'ichi. But he's not around. So I thought I can ask you about him."

Conan was surprised, as well as Ran and Sonoko. Kiyone looked their faces. She fidgeted. "You don't have to tell me. I can do it on your dad instead."

"That's not it," said Sonoko, chuckling. She wrapped her arms around Kiyone. "Everyone in your class wanted to do it on Shin'ichi! You're not the only one."

Ran chuckled and nodded. "You make the 20th one today." _Impressive! Who knew they want to do it about me._ Conan chuckled to himself.

Kiyone frowned. "That wouldn't be right. I don't want to burden you with the same questions the others asked." She folded her arms as her eyes wandered. They then fell on Conan. _Huh? Why is she staring at me for?_ Smiling suddenly, she added, "I know! Why don't I do my report on your little friend here?"

Ran choked on her soda. Sonoko's mouth hung open. Conan waved his hands.

"Why me, miss?" Conan cried, putting on his childlike face. _For some reason, she's staring at me like she's reading me somewhat._

"Ran told me about you…ah, Conan-kun." Kiyone's smile grew bigger. "And it makes sense that I can do a report on an elementary school child who is a match for Kaitou Kid."

Conan bit his lip. He knew for a fact that Ran didn't say a lot about him…and also that the newspapers had played him off as a mini-Kogoro. He shuddered a bit at that. He realized that Kiyone had an air of respect for him, that she was treating him as if he was smarter than he appeared to be.

Sonoko was muttering during the entire time while Ran recovered, an amused smile on her face. _Why aren't those two helping me?_ If anything, Kiyone's already large smile grew wider. Only talking to Conan, she asked, "What do you think the letter means?"

Sonoko humphed. "As much as I would like to hear this fascinating dribble, we're going. Come, Ran!" She grabbed Ran by her arm, dragging her. "We'll leave these two lovebirds alone."

"Sonoko!" Ran cried. She didn't notice the justified smirk from Sonoko aimed at Conan. Ran looked at Kiyone instead. "You know where we live, right?" Kiyone nodded. "Good. Bye! And take care of Conan." Both girls vanished behind the street corner.

Conan's mouth and eye twitched. _Damn that Sonoko!_ He stared at Kiyone, who was looking at the corner, hand in her chin, thinking. She sighed and said, "Lovebirds?" She chuckled, and then turned, bending a little to look at Conan. "Now that they're gone, why don't you now answer my question, Conan-kun?"

Conan didn't want to answer her question. He had a feeling that she was testing him. He saw that there was nobody around to distract them. _There must be some other way!_ Unexpectedly, a man appeared out of nowhere, grabbing Kiyone by the arm, putting a knife near her throat.

"Ki--" Conan wasn't able to finish her name as he was forcefully grabbed by his collar, a gun pointed at his head.


	5. Chapter 5

I'm happy that I have reviews… sniffle… Don't worry, things will pick up soon.

Oh!

Let me introduce myself… I'm devis cope, female (some of you probably didn't know that) and a collage student. That all for now.

To chapter 5!!!!

* * *

Chapter 5

Kaito quickly shot up from his chair. He was in his room in front of his computer, looking at a horrible scene. Conan and that girl, Kiyone, were grabbed by two goons and dragged to a nearby alley. _Damn, just when it's getting to the exciting part._

Kaito was using his white pigeons to spy at Conan for a couple of days. And also to try to find the whereabouts of "L." He occasionally used pigeons as surveillance and actually learned some new things. One was that there was someone new in charge of the Kaitou Kid Task Force. This person with a beige trench coat and hat looked as though he could be trouble. He was probably really here for L… and maybe knows who he is. He then looked at Conan and how he was hit by that girl… Sonoko, he thought her name was. He was on the floor, laughing, until the introduction of that other girl, Kiyone. He was still chuckling as Sonoko took her best friend, Ran, and ran off, leaving Conan to deal with a persistent Kiyone. Seeing the kid backed into a corner, while trying to keep his child-like persona was fascinating, until those men showed up.

Now he's worried. He realized that there was nobody around and that there was nowhere to run. Kaito knew that Conan, really Shin'ichi Kudou in child form, could handle his own but it'll become troublesome with a helpless girl. And Kaito can't do anything to help.

"Wait…what's that?" Two things happened quickly on screen but he was able to catch them. One was that Kiyone was smiling, as if she knew that they weren't going to succeed. The other was that a man appeared on the roof near the alley. The man had on a black trench coat yet wore a dark suit with a matching Fedora hat. He had a lit cigarette in his mouth as he scratched his beard. The man, Kaito saw, had hid himself quite well from his pigeon's view as he watched silently, looking at the backs of the men and the two kids.

Kaito unclenched his fists. Frowning, he said, "Tantei-kun, please be careful!"

* * *

"Please don't hurt him! He's just a child!" cried Kiyone. She and Conan were thrown to the wall of the alley. Kiyone immediately grabbed the boy and dragged him behind her. The two men smiled; the one holding the gun pointed it at her.

"Shut it!" said the knife man. "We're not gonna hurt the brat yet. He's gonna watch as —." He slowly walked towards her, with a hungry grin. He ripped her shirt, exposing her bra, and then grabbed her glasses, throwing them on the floor and crushing them with his foot. He took Kiyone by the chin. "—we have our way with you. When we're done, we'll kill you both." Smiling, he smacked her across the face with a heavy hand.

Conan watched all this behind her, anger filling him. _Shit! I have to…. _Behind his back, he had his stun watch ready. Unfortunately it was one shot only. He'll just have to use his soccer ball belt and his power-kick shoes.

The knife man frowned a bit. "What's with that scornful face?" With the same hand, he smacked her harder across the face. "That'll teach you to look that way in front of us!" The men began to laugh.

"How annoying." The men stopped laughing as they and Conan looked at Kiyone. She never cried out in pain as the man smacked her. She instead stood straighter and spat blood out her mouth. Conan shuddered. Her voice matched her expression and her eyes, cold, ice cold. Conan's memories of Kiyone bubbled up, remembering that she was respectful and nice, never really getting mad. Conan never saw her this way before.

"Kiyone-neechan?" Conan asked weakly. Kiyone gently shoved Conan near the entrance.

"Don't worry, Conan-kun. Save that watch for later." As quick as lightening, Kiyone kicked the knife man hard in the face. He flew to the gunman, who in shock, fired at Kiyone.

"Kiyone-neechan!" Conan cried. _I'm not going to—_

Kiyone easily dodged the bullet; it ended up hitting the wall directly behind her head. "Tch. Really annoying." She somehow had the knife man's knife in her hand. She threw it expertly, stabbing the gunman's wrist. The man cried out in pain as he was forced to drop him gun; the knife stabbed the same hand where he held the gun. Kiyone sighed as she walked to Conan. Realizing her bra was exposed, she quickly covered it with her hand. "Are you alright, Conan-kun?"

Conan just stood there, mouth hanging open. He was right. He's never seen her like this. Some of the things she did were amazing. Conan closed his mouth and slowly nodded. Kiyone smiled. "Okay! Then we should—"

"You bitch!" The knife man slowly rose, a shoeprint on his face. "You hurt my partner. I was going to be nice but now…" He picked up his partner's gun and took out his own gun. He pointed both guns at Conan. Kiyone's eyes widened.

"You wouldn't!" She cried. Conan's mouth twitched. He knew he wouldn't be able to dodge the shots and shoot his watch too. The man wouldn't need to use both guns for him; the other would be for Kiyone if she tried to stop him. There was nothing they both can do.

"Conan-kun!" cried Kiyone.

BANG!

Conan and Kiyone stared in horror as that shot was fired. The man gasped and collapsed, one gunshot wound to the back. Conan saw that the man was killed instantly. The other man cried in alarm and ran out the alley, only to be surrounded by coming police cars. Conan was happy to see the cops, but he looked around the tops of the buildings. _Someone killed him from somewhere, saving us._But there was nobody around. He looked at Kiyone, who smiled. "A last minute save," was the last thing she said before Megure-keibu came to the scene.

* * *

Ran, Sonoko, and Ran's father, Kogoro, ran as fast as they could, following the rushing police cars. They stopped as they saw ambulances as well, in front of an alley.

"Oh no!" said Ran. She was worried when Conan and Kiyone didn't follow them the rest of the way home. About fifteen minutes past when they heard sirens. Dad was home when they got there; he was watching TV as usual. Ran forced Dad to follow the cars to see what was going on. Ran now feared the worse when she saw a body bag getting into the ambulance and Satou-keiji arresting a man. _Oh no! What if—. _She noticed Megure-keibu and ran towards him.

"Ran, wait!" Dad cried. Megure-keibu noticed them and waved for them to come over. When Ran saw Conan and a bandaged Kiyone sitting in another ambulance, she sighed with relief. But….

"Kiyone! Your shirt!" cried Sonoko.

Kiyone stared at her front-gone shirt. She was covered up with a blanket. She solemnly looked at Ran and said, "Two men tried to attack me and kill Conan-kun. I tried my best to protect the boy." The arrested man, as he was handcuffed, cried out in pain because of his bandaged hand. They all stared at him. "One is now dead and the other is going to jail."

Sonoko rushed and hugged Kiyone Tears streamed down her face. "I'm glad you're alright."

"Conan-kun, I'm glad you're alright, too," Ran said through tears. Conan nodded, smiling at her.

Megure-keibu stared at Kiyone. "Your name is Kiyone?"

"What's wrong, Keibu-dono," asked Dad.

Takegi-keiji appeared next to the inspector. "The footprint did come from her—" He looked at Kiyone. "And the bullet that came from the victim was from a Magnum."

Megure-keibu's eye twitched. "What kind of Magnum?"

"A Smith and Wesson M19 Combat Magnum, sir." Takegi's voice quivered a bit.

"Keibu?" asked Ran.

The inspector frowned. "Despite what happened, Kiyone-san ended up with a sprained ankle from kicking the victim and some bruises on her face. The men on the other hand… one was stabbed in the hand. And the other was killed, shot in the back from far away." Megure pointed at Kiyone. "She didn't want to give her name because she stated that she didn't want her parents to know."

Ran agreed. _I understand, Kiyone._She was happy that her friends were now safe. She noticed that Takegi and Megure were talking to themselves, with Dad trying to listen in. "DAD!" she cried. Dad flinched and backed away. She turned to Kiyone. "Dad's here so now you can—" Kiyone shook her head.

"That's okay, Ran. I got all I need." She gently jumped off the Ambulance, despite the cries of protests from the paramedics. She put down the blanket and covered herself with her blazer that she folded neatly in her bag. "You should stop Conan too." She slowly hobbled away. "Bye, Sonoko, Ran." Sonoko waved. Ran raised an eyebrow. _Conan… _She saw that Conan wasn't in the truck but was close to the inspector and Takegi.

"CONAN!" cried Ran. Conan flinched and turned. He stared at Ran and said with a child-like expression, "Sorry, Ran-neechan."

Ran picked him up and hugged him. "I'm still glad you're safe."

"Where did she go?" cried Takegi-keiji to Sonoko. Ran and Conan looked at them.

"She left, going that—." She pointed across the street. Shocked, she said, "She vanished…but how? She had a sprained ankle."

"What?" cried Dad. Conan was stunned himself but then his face turned serious. Ran knew that when Conan was like this, he was thinking, just like Shin'ichi. _I miss you, Shin'ichi._

* * *

Kaito sat back in his chair, completely relieved. That "helpless" girl turned out to kick butt. And the Fedora man turned out to be helpful.

"Thank goodness," he muttered as he ordered another pigeon to follow Kiyone. She hobbled away from the others and until she was far from them, walked normally. Frowning, he watched as she turned to another alley where no one noticed her and leaned against the wall. The Fedora man walked down a fire escape and landed in front of Kiyone. He asked the pigeon to get a little closer so he can hear their conversation.

Fedora took out a pack of cigarettes, offering to Kiyone. She took one as Fedora produced a lighter, creating the flame. She put her cigarette near the lighter and puffed. He lit his own cigarette. "What did you find out?"

Kiyone blew smoke. "Lots." Taking off her blazer and touching her ripped shirt, she added, "Thanks for the save."

Fedora gave an OK sign. "Had to. You would have ended up blowing your cover in front of that child detective."

_They knew Conan-kun was more than a child?_ Kaito listened closely.

She chuckled. "He'll figure out anyway, once Sonoko-chan calls her." She took a long drag and sighed. "He's here and is now in charge of catching Kaitou Kid and me."

A stunned expression crossed Kaito's face. _She's "L?"_

The moment Kiyone said, "He's here," Fedora coughed and choked. He quickly recovered and said, "HE'S HERE?" Kaito really couldn't see the expression of Fedora's face; his eyes were hidden under his hat. "Things get shitloads annoying." Shaking his head, he added, "What about Mouri, Kudou, and Hattori?"

"Mouri-san's incompetent. He has some sparks but he's no threat. Kudou-kun went missing for a while, stating that he's solving difficult cases…." She paused. "I think he won't be able to make it to the party at all."

"So the real threats are that boy Conan and that Hattori kid?"

Kiyone nodded. "Hattori-kun will be in Tokyo tomorrow. From what I gathered, he and Conan-kun are good buddies, so Hattori-kun'll be staying with Mouri for awhile."

"I heard a lot about Heiji Hattori…his deductions skills rivaled that of Shin'ichi Kudou's." Fedora took the last puff from his cigarette and threw it away. "So we'll be dealing with two excellent child detectives, a semi-good detective, and our favorite inspector. This is gonna be a challenge for you and Kid."

Kiyone took the last puff from her cigarette and threw it away. "Speaking of which…" She stood straight. "Hey. If you wanted to see a peep show—" She took out a gun from under her shirt and aimed it at Kaito himself. "Then you should have asked."

"What the—?" Kaito instinctively raised his hands in surrender. "How did he know about the pigeon?"

"Kaitou Kid, I'm sure you can hear me so…" She playfully posed for the camera, still with her gun aimed at him. "Don't worry." She winked and added, her voice becoming a man's, "We'll meet soon." She pulled the trigger and a loud bang was heard. Startled, the pigeon flew away. Kaito shut off his computer and walked to his open window.

"That guyis good," Kaito said. "So he uses disguises, like I do. And he has a partner, too." This, itself, narrows some suspects down. The surveillance pigeon came back, perching on the window. Kaito gently took him, checking to see if there were any marks on it. He noticed that the bird had something strapped to its left foot.

"How did…?" He took off the thing, only for it to click a couple of times. His eyes widened and he immediately dropped the thing and stepped on it, crushing it. _Damn it! That was a digital camera! When did he…?_He gasped. "The gun! The gun hooked it on the pigeon! Wait, that gun! It looked like a Walther P-38." If he remembered correctly, there was only one person in the world that has that gun. Kaito became gitty as he rummaged through his book bag to take out the flyer. He now understood some of its hidden meanings and some of Akako's prophesy. Kaito was going to meet the greatest thief in the world. He can't wait to tell his mom about this! This was going to be one of the best days in his life.


	6. Chapter 6

For those of you that don't know what's going on and don't want to be bothered by reading previous chapters, here is my Under 5 Sentences Summary of each chapter.

C1- Four people who will be the main antagonists in the story are introduced, though purposely not outright named. The four decide to do a heist in Beika City, but one of them, the leader of the four, has an underlying agenda.

C2- Conan, the main protagonist, Ayumi, Genta, Matsuhiko, and Haibara are introduced, including Conan's and Haibara's background. Conan is worried that something bad going to happen. The feeling is justified when fliers fall from the sky and Conan reads it.

C3- It's a split between Kid and the police, who are all introduced. Kaito Kuroba (Kaitou Kid) wonders about the flyer which is a letter to steal, while the police try to figure out who the sender is. They also must contend with a man from the ICPO who will take over this case.

C4- Ran and Sonoko are introduced plus the added character of another girl, Kiyone. As the two girls wonder about the flyer's author, 'L', Kiyone appears, asking to do an essay on Conan. The girls leave Conan to fend for himself, until Conan and Kiyone are taken by mysterious people.

C5- Lots of splits here. Kaito, who was watching, becomes alarmed by this, but can't do anything. The two men try to attack Kiyone but she beats them up with one of them being shot dead by someone else. Ran is relieved to see Conan and Kiyone alright but hears through the police that something is up. Going back to Kaito, he finds out about the shooter, Kiyone and what is really going on.

Thank you for the reviews and … I'm not going to do summaries every time… Just only once in a while.

* * *

Chapter 6

Day 2

Heiji Hattori stared out the window of his plane, noticing the landscapes of Japan as the plane flew from Osaka to Tokyo. Sightseeing wasn't really the first thing on his mind. He had more important stuff to think about. He heard on the news about flyers falling from the sky all over Beika City yesterday. The flyers exclaimed that the person, 'L,' was going to also steal the Princess Diamonds. L also stated that he wanted to meet Kaitou Kid, utilizing his other name, 1412. The news and the police stated that it was going to be a competition between L, Kid, all the invited detectives, and the police. He was one of those invited detectives. He also knew that Mouri-san and Kudou were invited too. He grinned.

"Heiji, what's with that stupid grin on your face?" demanded his best friend, Kazuha Toyama. She asked… more like forced him to come along. She wanted to see Ran and Conan and took Heiji's invitation to the actor's party as an excuse to come. He looked at her.

"Idiot, you don't have to know!" Heiji looked back at the window.

"Don't call me 'idiot'," he heard Kazuha mutter.

Heiji is a teenage detective, born and raised in Osaka. Widely known, he was nicknamed 'Detective of the West' in Japan. He had a rivalry with another detective, just as famous and nicknamed 'Detective of the East', Shin'ichi Kudou. Heiji got his detective skills from his father, Heizo Hattori, who is in charge of the Osaka police force. He was a Kendo whiz, as Kudou was a soccer whiz. He learned later on that Kudou became a child again thanks to a criminal organization and now goes by the alias Conan Edogawa. Heiji is one of the few people who knew that Conan was really Kudou. Understanding this, Kudou would unfortunately go to the party not as himself but as a guest with Kogoro Mouri, Conan. Either way, it'll be great to meet him again; they can work together to bring down 'L' and Kaitou Kid. He wondered if Kudou told Ran-chan yet. He'll ask him when they touched down.

"Oy, Heiji," said Kazuha.

"What?"

"Did Ran-chan say that they were going to meet us at the airport?"

"Yes." He rolled his eyes in irritation. She was breaking his concentration. And she was being really annoying as usual. _Didn't she call you yesterday to say that? Why are you asking me?_

"Ran said that she called Shin'ichi-kun, to know if he was going to the party. Shin'ichi-kun said he wasn't going to make it." Kazuha added sadly, "Poor Ran-chan, she was so looking forward to seeing him again."

"I see…" _So he didn't tell her._ "I guess it's just me and Mouri-san."

"I guess so." About twenty seconds passed until Kazuha cried softly in Heiji's ear, "Heiji, look at that man!"

"What is it?" Annoyed, Heiji looked at where Kazuha was pointing. The man was sitting across from them. _That's an old style Japanese samurai kimono. That's rare!_ The man wore brown slacks and a white loose shirt. He had long black hair and his face was stoic. Eyes closed, arms and legs folded, he appeared to be meditating. "That guy looks cool!"

Riiing- Riiing! The man opened one eye and dug in his shirt. He took out his cell phone and answered.

"Hello….Yes, I'm on the morning flight to Tokyo….Yes, he's here as well….So he will pick me up….How is everything?" A long pause came. "I see." He raised an eyebrow. "So a boy is…. I understand. I will see you later." He closed his cell and placed it back under his shirt. He then closed his eye and folded his arms, as if he never moved in the first place.

"Heiji," Kazuha said excitedly. "This guy must be really disciplined to be like that for two hours." Heiji only nodded. _That guy must be a real swordsman._

"Attention! Attention! We will now be arriving at Tokyo Airport in fifteen minutes. Please fasten your seatbelts." Kazuha buckled her seatbelt as did Heiji. Heiji thought no more about the samurai.

"RAN-CHAN!"

"KAZUHA-CHAN!"

Both girls ran to meet each other. Heiji ended up carrying most of the bags, which wasn't much. Kudou followed, along with a grumbling Mouri-san. Kazuha bowed to say hi to Kudou before starting a conversation with Ran. Mouri-san looked in a newspaper, not bothering with anything until it was time to go. Kudou walked slowly to Heiji, a frown on his face.

"Hey, Hattori," Kudou said, the childish accent in his voice was gone, replaced by a mature, slightly deep, somewhat know-it-all accent. This voice he always uses when both of them are alone. This was one of the few instances he uses it.

The frown didn't escape Heiji. "Kudou, what's up?" Both of them, despite being rivals, were still friends. They could tell each other just about anything. And they were a powerful duo when they were up against cases.

Kudou looked up at Heiji, the frown turning into a grimace. "Yesterday has been…eventful to say the least. Ran'll tell you everything la—." He was sighing as he said this but then looked behind Heiji. "Who is that man dressed in a samurai kimono?"

"Huh?" Heiji turned to see the samurai walking out the door. Heiji noticed the only thing the guy was carrying was a large stick. The man gripped it, like it was his only treasure. "Oh, him? He was on the same flight as me. Ya know, he was there meditating on the entire flight, only breaking to answer his cell." He suddenly grinned and grabbed Kudou by the hand. "Let's see what he's carrying!" Kudou didn't protest. _I guess you're curious too, huh, Kudou?_ They both walked slowly, making sure they kept within the crowd, following the man. They saw that he was heading towards a black topless car where they saw a man leaning on it. That man had on a dark suit with a matching fedora hat. The hat covered his eyes, so the two couldn't see his expressions. The man had black hair and slightly jagged beard. He took a cigarette from a pack and began to light it when he noticed the samurai. Grinning, he cocked his to a different direction. Samurai nodded and stopped; so did Heiji and Kudou. The crowd was thinning, too.

"Why are you following me?" The boys looked up to see Samurai staring at them.

"Shit!" they both muttered. They were caught by strangers and who knows what he would do to them. The fedora man started to stroll in their direction. Heiji couldn't think of a way out of this, until…

"Mister, are you a real samurai?" asked Kudou, using his child accent. He gave Heiji a quick 'let me handle this' look and then smiled innocently at the man. _Way to go, Kudou!_ Fedora stopped next to Samurai.

"Yes," said Samurai. Fedora chuckled.

"So Mister, what's that long stick you're carrying, a katana, right?"

The man didn't raise an eyebrow. Instead, he nodded as he slowly unsheathed his sword. Heiji and Kudou couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of the long sharp blade. Heiji himself could tell that he took good care of it.

"This is Zantetsuken," said Samurai. "It is made out of a harder than diamond metal and can cut almost anything." He then sheathed it quickly. They boys were again amazed at his fast reflexes. Smiling a little, he added, "You are interesting—," looking at Heiji, "—do you do a sword style?"

Heiji, stunned, nodded and beamed. "I do kendo." Samurai nodded.

"I see." He turned to Kudou. "You know a lot about katanas, little one."

The stunned Kudou himself beamed and nodded. "I read some books on it."

Samurai's smile grew a little wider. "I thank you for your interest." He bowed with the boys following, and walked to the black car.

Fedora chuckled and patted both boys on the head. "You followed him to see his sword? Good eyes, you two, good eyes." Puffing on his cigarette, he turned and walked to the driver's side of his car, waving; Samurai was sitting in the back seat. The car vroomed as it started and drove away.

"Kudou, did you get all that?"

"Yeah, that samurai man and that cigarette man knew we were following them…interesting."

"Conan-kun, Heiji-kun, where are you?"

The boys looked behind them to see Ran-chan looking over the thinning crowd. "Well, Kudou," said Heiji, shrugging, "those two looked cool. And that sword of his…."

Kudou nodded. "I think that guy was telling the truth about his sword." He began to walk back. "C'mon, Hattori, let's go back before the girls get worried." And with that, the two strolled back to the waiting girls and the disgruntled Mouri-san.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

On the road to Beika City, Ran-chan told Kazuha and Heiji about yesterday. They were stunned about the ordeal of Kudou and Ran-chan's friend, Kiyone-chan. Kazuha was glad to see that Kudou was safe, but Heiji could tell that Kudou had more to say but only Heiji will be able to listen.

"But get this!" Ran said. "When Sonoko called Kiyone last night to see if she made it home and how were her injuries, Kiyone stated that she never met us, that she actually went straight home after school so she could finish her detective essay." A stunned gasp came from Kazuha; Heiji's frown deepened.

"Kiyone said that her essay was never going to be about Shin'ichi or Dad, but it was going to be about you, Heiji-kun." Heiji gave a mocking grin to Kudou, who scowled back. "She also said that everyone else was doing either Shin'ichi or Dad and she just wanted to stand out by choosing a detective not too known here." A quiet mocking chuckle came from Kudou, with Heiji glaring at him. Ran-chan turned to look at Kudou. "Strange, right, Conan-kun?" Kudou nodded.

"She probably just wanted to put that ordeal behind her so she's pretending it never happened," stated Mouri-san, the driver. Mouri-san didn't own a car so he usually rented one. This time he rented a white van. Kazuha and Ran-chan were sitting in the row behind Mouri-san. Heiji and Kudou sat in the last row. They wanted to have a private conversation but waited until the girls moved on to something else.

Kazuha agreed. "I would do the same thing." Neither girl noticed the frowns on both boys' faces. "So Ran-chan, why isn't Sonoko-chan here, too?"

"Oh! It was because…" The girls looked at each other and began talking between themselves.

Heiji leaned back in his seat, happy that the chatty duo was no longer talking to them. He asked in a low voice, "So Kudou, what really happened?"

Kudou himself leaned back; his little feet dangling over the cushioned seat. "I didn't know at first until I thought about it for most of the night." With a sigh he continued. "Kiyone kicking and using dangerous objects isn't her at all. This led me to believe that—"

"That wasn't Kiyone." Heiji glanced at him. "I know you overheard what Megure-keibu and that other officer were saying in private. Spill."

"When Takegi-keiji stated what type of gun it was that shot that thug, Megure-keibu flinched, like he slightly expected that news. Listening in, I found out why." He stared at Heiji. "The shooter is an associate of L." Heiji's eyes widened.

"The police know who L is?" Heiji couldn't believe this news. _Why the public wasn't told about this if they found out so quickly? How did they even found out about L?_ He knew that sometimes…many times the police were usually in the dark about many things, including about that organization. Some of it wasn't their fault, though.

Kudou seemed to read his thoughts. He gave a small smile. "I thought that, too. **How did they know all this?**"

"Did you find out?"

Kudou nodded. _Of course you did, Kudou._ But he didn't say. Instead he said, "I was wondering how Kiyone knew that my watch was a stun watch, and knew that I was going to use it."

_Why is Kudou circling around this?_ He suspected Kudou had his reasons and so didn't press. He raised an eyebrow. "So, you think that fake Kiyone was L. But if that's the case, why did she want to know about you and Mouri-san?" Heiji became even more thoughtful. "Also, the reason that associate shot the guy was because he didn't want L's cover to be blown… but why did he need to?"

"Too many questions, not enough answers," he heard Kudou mutter. He then grabbed his head. "If only Ran didn't call me, I would have gotten L and his associates' names." An annoyed look settled on his face, the hand on his head moving to his chin. Heiji understood this as Kudou's thinking mode. So Heiji said nothing; he himself started to mull over all the information Kudou gave him and what he got from the media. If Kudou was right, and he certainly is, then L is a master of disguise, like Kid. He fooled Sonoko-chan, Ran-chan, and Kudou. The only reason he broke out of character was to protect Kudou. Who was L and why was he doing these things?

"To think about this some more, let's start from the beginning," Kudou suddenly said. Heiji snapped out of his thoughts. _Good idea!_ Heiji nodded. Heiji took out a piece of paper from his pocket; Kudou took out a small mini notebook and two pens, giving one to Heiji.

"'Kay," started Heiji. "To begin… two days ago in Tuesday—"

"Kaitou Kid sends a letter to the police and to the actor Daisuke Yamada about stealing the Princess Diamonds."

"Right. The Princess Diamonds are really glass shoes with large diamonds on its toes and heels, sixteen in all. It was given to him as a gift from British museum because he gave a contribution."

Kudou started to concentrate. "Kid's letter was…." He began to write down something, probably Kid's note. Heiji knew that his letter was blasted all over the media… but in all honesty, he forgot what it said. The only reason Kudou was able to remember was simply that Kid and Kudou were rivals. Kudou was always eager to bring Kid down. Heiji waited until Kudou finished; it took about three minutes. He gave it to Heiji and Heiji began to read quietly to himself:

'During the empty night of the mountain rice field's party, as a masquerade, I will be stealing the Princess Diamonds in the flash. The Law will always be on my side.

Kaitou Kid'

"Solving this at best, he's stealing the shoes during the actor's party, two days from now, on Saturday, since that night will be a new moon."

Kudou nodded. "Yeah and the mountain rice field is Yamada-san. The masquerade part is that he'll be there in disguise. But I haven't figured out the flash and the law part."

Heiji wrote down notes. "On Wednesday, yesterday, at about noon, L drops flyers from the sky all over Beika City. His flyers state that he will also try his hand at stealing the diamonds."

"He does this to make his mark there, to be the talk of the town, which works. He also proclaims that he wishes to meet Kid."

"This ends up being a struggle between thieves, police, and detectives, which L also calls out. I got invited to the party as well as Mouri-san and you so we can become the —" Both boys eyes went wide and they glanced at each other. "Kudou! You don't think—"

"Uh-huh. L was studying me, both Conan and Shin'ichi, to learn about the detective competition." They both looked at Mouri-san, who was listen to the radio in horse racing, which if memory served Heiji right, he was a fan of. "He probably took one look at him and considered him no threat," both Kudou and Heiji muttered at the same time. As if on cue, Mouri-san suddenly cried out, "Don't lose, you stupid horse! My money's riding on YOU!!!" _Yep, no threat._

"Hattori, did you felt anyone following you?"

"Huh?" Heiji bit his lip. "No, Kudou. Why?"

"From what I heard from the inspector, L has three associates."

Heiji raised an eyebrow. "He has more that one?"

Kudou nodded and continued. "Not only the names, but I wasn't able to hear their description. I thought that one of them might have stayed in Osaka to study you and then came with you to Tokyo without you knowing it."

"Besides the shooter, we have two unaccounted for." Heiji kept thinking hard, and as he did, he wrote down, 'L, disguised as friend tries to study Kudou and Mouri-san; probably succeeded. Might have studied me." Heiji smiled to himself. They have figured out so much, like he knew they would. But one thing kept bugging him and he knew what it was. "Kudou, you haven't told me yet." He stared at his "child" equal.

Kudou flinched at Heiji's stare and sighed. "It seems that someone not in the police force told them about L. This guy not only knew immediately who L was, but has all information on him and his associates. The superiors had sent this guy to be in charge of dealing with L and Kaitou Kid."

"I see. So this person is now in charge of trying to stop these thieves from taking the diamonds." He still stared at Kudou. "And?" _What is he so afraid of? And why is he holding back information from me?_

Kudou immediately braced himself. _Why is he doing all this? _"The man is from the ICPO." Heiji quickly grabbed Kudou.

"WHAT, YOU'RE KIDDING?" cried Heiji. "FROM THE ICPO?"

"What about the ICPO, Heiji?"

Heiji turned to see Kazuha and Ran-chan staring at both of them. Mouri-san was also staring at them through the rear-view mirror.

"Geez, that big mouth of yours will be the death of you?!" Kudou hissed. He then said out loud. "Hehehe. Heiji-niisan said that he heard that someone from the ICPO is working with Megure-keibu."

"What?" cried all three. Mouri-san suddenly became thoughtful and Kazuha and Ran-chan once again talked among themselves. Heiji put Kudou down. Heiji knew that he sometimes acts without thinking and that he sometimes shouts without meaning to. Kudou's expression told him that he just did one of these things. _That's why he did all this…_

"Sorry," he whispered. Kudou fixed his collared shirt. Then his face brightened. "What's up, Kudou?"

"Hakase!" He gasped. Heiji lightly slapped his forehead. _Of course! That old man!_ Hiroshi Agasa-hakase was a retired inventor and scientist and a family friend of Kudou's. He was another person who knew that Kudou was now a child. Hakase had a database with police records and such. Kudou took out his cell phone and speed dialed Hakase's number. Heiji leaned close so he can hear too.

"Hello?" asked an old man.

"Hakase, it's me. Heiji's here, too."

"Ah, Shin'ichi. Where—" A voice could be heard on the background. _That's that smart little girl, Haibara-san._ She was another person who knew Kudou's secret but at the same time was in the same position as him; she was also another teenager shrunken to child size. This voice was followed by three angry voices. _That's those three kids. Boy, do they sound pissed!"_ Then Hakase's voice became lower. "Sorry, Shin'ichi. The kids are mad at you for lying to them. Ai-kun's distracting them from the phone. Hello, Heiji-kun."

"Hey there, Hakase," Heiji answered. "Kudou called you—"

"About this 'L,' right?" Hakase finished. "I knew that you two would call me after Shin'ichi picked you up and the two of you have figured some things out." The boys heard typing of keys. "I've already researched under first names, last names, aliases, and nicknames beginning with L and reduced it with anyone wanted for thievery… they're a lot of names, Shin'ichi, Heiji-kun."

"Good job, Hakase," Kudou said with a smile. "We're going to add a few more to lower the amount. First, he's probably wanted in a lot of countries…"

Heiji continued, "Next, he has known living associates, at least three in number…"

"And third, he's under the eye of Interpol." Kudou finished.

"Okay." There was typing of keys. "There are still a lot of names. I'll give them to you after you come over. See you later." He hung up.

Both boys sighed. Heiji knew they had tons of work ahead, with little time left.

* * *

NOTE:

A) Yamada is made up of two kanji, _yama_ and _ta_. _Yama_ means mountain and _ta_ means rice patty fields. Yama's kanji looks like the blade of a three prong trident, the two ends being smaller then the center. Ta's kanji looks like a square with a cross in it. If you can imagine these symbols and compare them to an image of their translations, then you'll get the point.

B) Hakase means doctor (PhD), Keiji actually means detective but is used as 'officer', and Keibu means inspector. Both are general nouns, but can also be used as specific nouns and as occupational suffixes. So when Conan calls Agassi "Hakase," it's not Agassi's birth name but it is his title. Just like when we in the US don't really call our president by just his name, we say, "Mr. or Ms. President" or "President _(insert name here.)_" Its really gives respect to the person who has that title.

C) I'm sorry to blab on about things you readers probably know, but I can't help it sometimes. It was kind of hard for me to make up a Kid letter, the L letter, and to make Conan and Heiji deduce the way they do in the manga and anime. I did try so please be gentle.

D) NEXT CHAPTER: I WILL REVEAL THE SECOND GROUP CHARACTERS AND THEY AND CONAN WILL MEET FOR THE FIRST TIME!!! WHAT WILL HAPPEN?? STAY TUNED!!!


	8. Chapter 8

This is it! This is the time when I now introduce the new characters by name.

* * *

Chapter 8

Samurai's stoic expression broke a grin as Fedora told him of the ordeal that happened yesterday between their leader and two unlucky goons.

"He said he didn't want to kill them at first because of that Edogawa kid," said Fedora as he lit a cigarette. "But when that bastard ripped his shirt and smacked him, he went off and kicked that guy and then threw a knife at the other."

"What about the boy?"

Fedora puffed as he stared at Samurai with the rear view mirror. "Funny thing. He didn't look scared at them. I think he was probably going to attack. He knew it too, so he stopped the boy. It looked like he knew Kiyone, though."

Samurai raised an eyebrow. "But you said Edogawa-kun and Kiyone just met."

"I wonder about that myself." Fedora tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. "So what did you find out about Hattori?"

"He is a highly skilled kendo student." Samurai looked up at the sky. "The best in his school." He closed his eyes and smiled. "It was hard for me to disguise myself as a kendo student. I had to make sure I let some of those kids win."

Fedora chuckled. "Skills in Kendo, skills in deduction, lethal combo."

"About Kudou and Edogawa…"

"Oh!" Fedora gave some papers to Samurai, who looked over each page. "Kudou is the only son of a famous mystery writer and a former actress. He learned all of his deduction skills from his dad, whom you can say can be a detective in his own right. Kudou's like a walking encyclopedia. He's a soccer whiz, the best in his school before he quit." Scratching his chin, he added, "As for Edogawa…"

"It says here that his parents are from America, and has been living in Japan for a while. But…"

"The information is false." Samurai glanced at his comrade.

Fedora nodded. "From what I gathered, Edogawa came into the scene about a year ago. Once I got through all the false info, there's pretty much nothing on him. But the kid is smart for his age. He's living with Kogoro Mouri and his daughter, Ran. Some of the people who know him state that the brat's a mini-Kogoro."

"What does he think?" Samurai fixed the papers, and placed them on the car floor.

"He said if anything, he thinks that Kogoro's a mini-Edogawa. And I don't think he's joking." Fedora chuckled but then stopped suddenly as well as the black car they were driving in. "Shit! She's here."

Samurai didn't need to ask to know who he was talking about. He turned to see a brown haired woman crossing the street, waiting for a white van to pass before walking to the car. She entered the back seat, sitting next to Samurai. The woman was wearing a red shirt and skirt with the same colored high heeled shoes. Samurai didn't really like this woman and Fedora most obviously didn't like her either. She was a demon in high heels, a woman who can make the most selfish, richest, hardened men fall for her. She could annihilate men with a smile and a wink, making them become pawns for her pleasure. Even their leader fell for her. Both men knew they had feelings for each other but many things stood in their way. One was her love for material gain and the other was that he was a playboy. They both thought it would probably never work out.

"What the hell do you want?" snarled Fedora, as he lit another cigarette. The clear as day look of annoyance of her was shown on his face. If it wasn't for the fact that sometimes they do need her charms for some of their heists, and extra hands, they would have had nothing to do with her.

The woman looked at the papers on the floor and picked them up. Quickly scanning each page, she muttered, "Kudou…Edogawa…." Placing the papers back on the floor, she said, completely ignoring Fedora's glare, "Welcome back to Tokyo! I'm sure that Osaka was a nice place!" Samurai only nodded.

"Well?"

The woman glared at Fedora. "He called me to say that we're going to meet up at a restaurant… and yes, it's Japanese." Samurai nodded in happiness. Because of his ethics, Samurai ate no other food but Japanese and drunk no other alcohol but sake. "He was going to call you but I noticed you across the street and I told him that I'll tell you. Does that answer your question?"

"Tch," was Fedora's only reply as he puffed on his cigarette. Samurai, as he tried to ignore the woman's and Fedora's argument, noticed that the white van that passed them had slowly stopped in front of them. The driver's door opened, showing a middle-aged man with combed back hair and a moustache. He wore a grey suit with a purple tie. The man strolled to their car, to where the woman was. Samurai also noticed the back window of the van, which showed four annoyed faces, one more so than the others.

The man fixed his moustache and gently grabbed the woman's hand. None of them in the car made a move; they all knew who this man was. "Hello my beautiful Lady," he said and kissed her hand. "I am the Famous Detective Kogoro Mor—" Before he could finish, a girl who held that most annoyed face grabbed the man by his collar. "Ran, no wait!" was Mouri-san's pleas before they were silenced by her penetrating stare. _That girl must do some sort of martial art._ Following her were one other girl and two boys; both boys Fedora and Samurai recognized.

"Hey! You're that samurai we say on the plane!" cried the black haired girl. Samurai believed her name was Kazuha-chan.

"What a small world we live in!" said the only teen boy, Heiji-kun.

"Hey, it's Samurai-san and Cigarette-san!" cried the little boy, Conan-kun.

"Cigarette-san?" asked Fedora, staring at his probably fifteenth smoke in the past couple of hours. Shrugging, he grinned. "It's nice to see you, too."

"You met them?" asked Ran-chan after letting go of her frightened father.

Heiji-kun nodded, but didn't really say anymore. Fedora and Samurai understood why. _They met us after following us. _The others didn't go any further, too much into Mouri-san trying to sweet talk the woman, who won't be manipulated easily.

The woman leaned to Samurai, whispering, "These three are the detectives?" Samurai nodded. Chuckling, she got out the car and suddenly hugged Mouri-san, putting everyone off guard except Fedora and Samurai. "You're the famous Sleeping Kogoro?" _An act, no doubt._ "Please, you must introduce me to your children!"

"CHILDREN!?" cried Mouri-san. This got chuckles from Heiji-kun and Conan-kun. But one look from the woman made Mouri-san regain his composure and said, "This is my daughter, Ran."

"Hello, ma'am," said the brown haired girl with a bow.

"This is Heiji Hattori and Kazuha Toyama. They're from Osaka and are going to stay with me for awhile." The two bowed.

"…And this is the freeloader, Conan Edogawa," Mouri-san added as a semi-afterthought.

Conan-kun bowed stiffly with a cold glance to Mouri-san as Heiji-kun grinned. Smiling devilishly, Conan-kun walked up to the woman and said in an innocent child's voice, "Ojisan likes you because you have those big things—," he pointed at the woman's breasts. "He stopped the car because he screamed that you looked cuter than his wife but you're not as cute as Yoko Okino-chan! In fact, he said that she's way cuter than you'll ever be!"

A stunned expression appeared on the woman's face, while Fedora started laughing hysterically, crying between gasps, "Cuter than… oh that's hilarious!" The woman quickly shot Fedora a look which he noticed but continued laughing anyway. Samurai couldn't help but crack a smile. He knew that took her down a peg. And he knew that Conan-kun did this on purpose; the only people who saw Conan-kun's grin was himself and Fedora. Ran-chan immediately pulled Conan-kun back, chastising him. Heiji-kun frowned as he whispered to Kazuha-chan, "Who's Okino-chan?" Kazuha whispered, "That famous singer and actor with the blond hair!" Heiji-kun hit his fist in his hand, figuring it out. He then joined Fedora in laughter.

The speechless Mouri-san was torn between yelling at Conan-kun and pleading with the woman for forgiveness. Instead, he said, "To apologize for the brat, why don't I treat everyone for lunch?"

Stunned expressions now shifted to the kids. Heiji-kun muttered, louder than normal, "I hope you don't go anywhere cheap!"

"Shut it, Kansai brat!" Mouri-san growled.

The woman gave a quick forgiving smile. "There's a nice Japanese restaurant a few blocks from here. We're going to meet a friend there."

Pleased that the woman forgave him and giving Conan-kun a vengeful glance, Mouri-san raised his arm. The woman got out of the car and gratefully took it. Samurai gave a sad sigh, which Heiji-kun and Conan-kun noted. _And another man falls for her evil charms._Before Mouri-san left, he turned to them and asked, "We never gotten your names."

The woman gently drew circles with her finger on Mouri-san's chest, which made him coo happily. Ran-chan gave an annoyed look but said nothing. The woman looked at the kids and said, "My name's Fujiko Mine."

Mouri-san became thoughtful. Eyes shining, he added, "Fujiko, indeed!" He stared yearningly at her chest.

Throughout all this, Fedora was still laughing, which was turning into a chuckle. Wiping the tears from his eyes and ignoring the glares Fujiko kept giving him, he said, "The name's Daisuke Jigen."

Samurai bowed while still seated. "My name is Goemon Ishikawa. It is nice to meet you."

* * *

Note:

–San, -Kun and –Chan are all suffixes that go after names. –San is a general suffix meaning roughly, Mr., Ms., Miss., Mrs. It's pretty much the default and respectful suffix for about all names. Takegi calls Satou, "Satou-san" as a term of respect. –Chan is a suffix usually used for girls and children, so Ran-chan and Kazuha-chan would fit here. –Kun is kind of complex but it is generally used for boys and men, a senior status person to a junior status person, and between men of about equal status. Conan-kun and Heiji-kun would work here. The reason why Agasa calls Haibara "Ai-kun," I think has something to do with the second option. Remember, they are working together and are both scientists with Agasa being the senior status (He is older and more experienced than Haibara) and Haibara being the junior status.

Ojisan means "uncle" but can be used also as a reference to "old man."

Kansai is a region of Japan that includes the city of Osaka, so in the anime and manga, you would hear Heiji be sometimes called Kansai-san or Kansai detective. It doesn't help that it can also be used as a derogatory name.

Some of you readers have already figured out who the unnamed characters were because you probably heard of them, and recognized them, given my little hints. Why they're here and what's going to happen next will come next chapter. See you soon!


	9. Chapter 9

This chapter became longer than I intended, but that's how it goes!

Onward to chapter 9

* * *

Chapter 9

As Daisuke Jigen-san and Ojisan parked their vehicles, Conan and the others waited on the friend near the restaurant. After parking the car behind each other, the group saw the trio stroll towards them, Jigen-san just hanging up his cell. Fujiko Mine-san, who was with Ojisan, gently hugged him, blowing kisses in his ear. He sighed in ecstasy.

"I just called him, telling him that we have more guests," Jigen-san said when they made it back. Conan noticed the annoyed look on his face as he stared at Mine-san and Ojisan. "I told him about you all," he added with some restraint.

"What's with the expression?" Hattori muttered to Conan. Conan, in turn, shrugged. Then he felt a surge of anger. He turned to see an angry Ran giving dark looks to the duo. Conan and Hattori slowly moved back. They felt as though Ran could have kicked that woman to Kingdom Come, following another one to Ojisan. They both seemed to notice Ran as Ojisan quickly moved away from Mine-san, who raised an eyebrow to this, and sighed.

"Mouri-chan," she asked. "Your father is a nice man, and I'm his biggest fan." If anything she grabbed Ojisan and pulled him closer, sending gasps from Kazuha to Hattori to even Conan himself. _Is she trying to get herself killed?_

"Ran! She's just kidding, Ran! Ran? Ran!" cried Ojisan as he tried to plead to his karate expert daughter to calm down, with little avail. They all could see veins popping out her forehead. She got into a fighting stance. Conan looked to see if Jigen-san and Ishikawa-san was going to save Mine-san. Jigen-san was actually grinning while Ishikawa-san took steps back himself, out of Ran's way. _What are they doing?_

"What are they doing?" asked Kazuha-chan. "Aren't you going to …"

"She got what she deserved." Jigen-san glanced at Conan, his smile growing bigger. Ishikawa-san only nodded. Mine-san eyes widened.

"You're not going to save me?" she cried, backing away. Passersby, noticing Ran quickly crossed the street.

"Dad will only be with MOM!" she cried. She ran, fast as lightening, and gave a battle cry, giving one swift kick to Mine-san's face.

"Oy, oy. What's going on here?"

Everyone turned to see a man dressed all in black as he lightly grabbed Ran's foot. There was stunned looks from everyone except Jigen-san and Ishikawa-san.

_He stopped Ran's kick like it was nothing!_ Conan couldn't believe this. "Kudou," whispered Hattori, probably thinking the exact same thing. "He stopped her kick, and we didn't even sense him coming! Who is he?" Conan gave no response. The man, who wore black glasses, gently let go of Ran's foot. He stared at Ojisan, Hattori and Conan.

"Kogoro Mouri-san," he said to Ojisan, pointing at him. He then pointed to Hattori. "Heiji Hattori-kun." Then he walked to Conan, bending down and patting his head. "Conan Edogawa-kun."

Ojisan blinked. "Are you the friend we're waiting for?" He gave a 'thank you' stare to him.

Jigen-san chuckled. "How long have you been standing there?" He sighs a little as he muttered, "So close!"

The man stared at Conan, taking off his glasses. Conan at once felt uneasy. The man dressed in a black turtleneck sweater, black pants, and black shoes, somehow gave him a weird impression. In the back of Conan's mind, he was reminded that the Organization was marked by its members dressed in black. That uneasy feeling came back. Conan blinked to clear that thought. Another part of his mind noted that Conan was thinking too hard, like he occasionally does. That thought, for now, prevailed.

The black-clad man smiled, sending shivers down Conan's spine. The plain smile and his fun-loving expression completely contrasted with his eyes, which were totally unreadable and some what distant. The man scratched his short black hair, sliding down to his thick sideburns.

Rubbing Conan's hair again, he said, 'About the time Mouri-chan was in her karate stance." He looked at Conan again with those eyes. Conan shuddered slightly.

"WHAT?" cried Mine-san. She immediately ran to the man. "You were standing there as I was about to be killed by this girl?!" She tried to smack him, in which he dodged, going behind Hattori. Hattori, wide eyed, tried without success, to move out the way. Mine-san humphed and stood next to Ojisan, who was torn between helping the man and staying away from her or being near her and summon the wrath of his daughter…again.

"Women are scary, right?" the man asked of Hattori. Hattori nodded, saying, "Yes," before flinching.

He turned. "Kazuha…." he asked with a weak chuckle. Kazuha-chan stared at him, arms folded.

"Scary, huh?" Kazuha-chan looked away.

Ishikawa-san chuckled. "Lupin, you're here and already you caused dissent." Conan blinked. _Lupin?_ He looked at Hattori, who frowned himself, looking at the man behind him.

The man glanced at Ishikawa-san and smirked. "I guess so." He let go of Hattori. "Sorry about that, Hattori-kun." He looked at Ran. "I'm sorry that Fujiko did that," but then he shrugged slightly. "But don't worry, it won't go that far. He may be famous, but he's not rich. Her love depends on how much he makes… and I know detectives don't make much."

Hattori and Conan couldn't help but chuckle while Ojisan blushed a little. Mine-san's mouth twitched as she was about to yell at him.

"I do have some right to say that after you humiliated everyone here…" Lupin-san said harshly, cutting off any further argument from her. Conan stared at him. Was it him, or did Lupin-san's voice didn't match his calm face?

The three stared at him. Mine-san was the most surprised as she looked away in shame. They all heard a click and turned to see Jigen-san staring at his cell phone. "Lupin telling her off and Fujiko actually looking shameful for once. History in the making. This won't last but I'm glad that I was there to see it. Glad I took pictures."

"Umm, Lupin-san?" Conan asked in his most childlike voice, "Aren't we late for the reservation?"

"No," Lupin-san said. "We're fifteen minutes early. I reserved for 11: 30 am. And I called the restaurant after Jigen called me and changed the number of people from four to nine." He suddenly snapped his fingers. "We might as well, right?" He waved his hands. "Come on!"

The others started to walk in, with Hattori and Conan following Jigen-san and Ishikawa-san.

"What the hell was that?" Jigen-san muttered. "What the heck's with the black ensemble? Ya know, Goemon, ever since we got here Lupin just went a complete 180 in personality. I don't like it. This might bite us in the ass in the long run."

Ishikawa-san nodded in agreement. "Lupin didn't even flinch when he saw Fujiko and Mouri-san together. This is troubling."

Conan frowned. "Kudou," muttered Hattori. Conan knew that the two men weren't listening to them so Hattori could call Conan by his real name. "That Lupin guy… do you think that he's…?"

"Don't know, Hattori. Don't know." _I need some time to think._ Conan was too deep in thought to listen to anymore conversations. He didn't even notice the sitting arrangements and the ordering. Conan didn't even protest when Ojisan, for revenge, ordered a cheap plate for Conan.

"So, how long have you guys been friends?"

Conan snapped out of his thoughts to hear Ran's question, just as the food arrived. Conan was eager for their answers as well as the food. When the waiter placed his plate down…

"Ojisan, what's this?"

"Oh, that's the kiddy meal I ordered for you," Ojisan said fiendishly. The small plate contained nothing more than a mini hamburger, fries, and corn. Conan knew they had more fries than this and bigger hamburgers. He could tell from Ojisan's dark smile that Ojisan asked the waiter to bring Conan the smallest amount of fries and the smallest hamburger patty possible. "So, Conan-kun, do you like it?" Ojisan gave a mocking laugh as he purposely exposed his meal which made Conan's look pathetic in comparison.

Conan could have sworn that he heard chuckling from Hattori, who as Conan realized, was sitting next to him. He finally took a look at the table and the sitting arrangements. They were all sitting in a round table with Ojisan and Lupin sitting across from each other. Mine-san was sitting to the left of Ojisan followed by Kazuha-chan and Ishikawa-san. Jigen-san was sitting to the left of Lupin-san followed by Ran, Conan then Hattori.

Conan decided against faking a tantrum, for it would have also embarrassed Lupin-san and his friends. So he instead said, "Ojisan, this looks really good! Thank you!" _I'm not going to let him have the last laugh!_

Ojisan's eyes widened. "I see," was his only response. A deflated look settled on his face as started picking his food. Everyone giggled with Hattori's the loudest. Conan gave Hattori a good kick to the knee. He yelped in pain.

"Are you alright, Heiji?" Kazuha-chan asked.

"I'm good," Hattori answered with a sharp gasp, giving a glare to Conan, who sat innocently on his chair, eating his pathetic excuse for a lunch.

"We've been friends for years," answered Mine-san after the giggling ceased.

"Oh!" said Ran, smiling nicely. "What do you do?" Conan pricked his ears, knowing Hattori would do the same. These people were interesting, especially Lupin-san. The two detectives would like to learn some things about them.

Jigen-san grinned as he lifted his hat, exposing his long bangs and one of his dark eyes. "I repair old guns. I travel around to people who house these rare weapons and fix and clean them. I know some big wigs that pay me big bucks to repair their antiques."

"Wow!" cried Ojisan. The deflation vanished as he heard all this. He began to eat his food. "What about you. Ishikawa-san?"

Ishikawa-san smiled. "Those two boys know my profession and I'll also tell you. I am a professional swordsman. Just as Jigen, I travel to hone my skills."

"That's so cool!" cried the girls together. Conan smiled. Being a traveling swordsman must be… he snapped out of that thought. He must listen to their stories.

Mine-san smiled. "I'm a secretary for a business." She sighed a little. "Nothing special like those two."

"Okay," said Ran. "I hope your company has success." Ran fidgeted. "I'm sorry I was going to kick you."

Mine-san looked surprised. "That's okay, Mouri-chan." With a wary glance at Lupin-san, she added, "I'm sorry, too." They heard a beep and turned to see Jigen-san staring at his cell phone.

"Fujiko actually apologizing! Another history making event. Good thing I've recorded it."

Mine-san glared at Jigen-san. "Would you just quit it?" she growled. Jigen-san grinned.

"What about you, Lupin-sa—," Ojisan began before staring at him. "Are you alright?"

Lupin-san was staring distantly at his food, which he didn't touch, muttering to himself. Conan mentally noted this. The moment Ojisan called him, he blinked and looked around at the table. Waving his hands, he said, "I'm a magician…of sorts."

"Magician?" asked Kazuha-chan.

Lupin-san nodded. "My parents named me after that famous thief, because he was their biggest fan. I became a magician because you know that he occasionally uses tricks to get himself out of situations, and magic is somewhat of a slight of hand, right?"

Everyone nodded. Conan joined as well. It's true that the 'gentleman thief' Arsene Lupin did use tricks that would have made Houdini jealous. "Then, Lupin-neesan, can you show us a trick?"

He suddenly smiled. "I'll show you three, Edogawa-kun." Lupin–san dug in his pockets and took out something. He place three items in the center of the table, "This is the first one…does these things belong to anyone?"

Ojisan, Hattori, and Conan rose from the table. "THAT'S OUR WALLET!!!" cried Ojisan and Hattori.

"And that's my watch!!" cried Conan. The moment that Lupin-san placed the items on the table, Conan realized that his watch was missing. _How did he do that? _Conan immediately grabbed his watch, putting it back on his wrist. Hattori and Ojisan grabbed their wallets and after checking to see if anything was taken, placed it back in their pockets.

Smirking, Lupin-san said, "Now for number two. Mouri-chan, Toyoma-chan, check your pockets. I left something interesting there."

The girls immediately rose from their chair digging in their pockets. They took out egg-shaped capsules. Staring at each other, they slowly opened it. Blue smoke burst from the capsules, surrounding the girls. They yelped

"Kazuha!" cried Hattori.

"Ran!" cried Ojisan. _Oh no! Ran!_ Conan glared at Lupin-san. If he did anything to the girls, he swears he'd—. The air suddenly smelled sweet. _Flowers?_ When the blue smoke cleared the girls' faces vanished behind large bouquets of flowers. Conan heard clapping and looked around. The people in the restaurant were looking at them and pretty much cheered. Lupin-san rose and bowed.

"Thank you! Thank you!" he said with a smile.

"What a ham!" muttered Jigen-san with a grin.

"Always the show off," said Ishikawa-san.

Ojisan joined the applause, apparently trying hard not to look stupid. Only Conan and Hattori sunk a little lower in their seats.

Ran and Kazuha-chan blushed as they took their flowers and sat down. Annoyed looks settled on Conan's and Hattori's faces.

"That was excellent, Lupin-san!" said Ojisan. Lupin-san bowed at all the applause. It died down and he pulled out his own wallet. Taking out a piece of paper, he gave it to Ojisan, who gave it a quick glance before looking serious. Conan saw this as Ojisan's 'business mode.'

"Who is this person? And why do you need my help?" Ojisan said. Mine-san looked at the paper and looked away

"So that's why we're here." she said.

"In truth she's a friend I've met long ago, so I don't exactly remember her name. I came here with my friends about a couple of days ago to look for her. I've heard she was in this area." Lupin-san leaned back in his chair and continued with his serious tone. "I've asked around but with no luck. I was wondering if you or your friends have seen or even met her."

Ojisan scratched his head, passing it around first to Kazuha-chan. She shook her head as she got up from her seat sharing the paper, which Conan assumed was a photo, with Ran. She also shook her head giving the photo to Conan and Hattori. Both boys' faces paled. Conan's eyes widened in shock. _No! It can't be!_ He gave a quick glance to Hattori, who stared back, eyes meeting. A flash of panic crossed them. Both realized their shock and tried to hide it, weakly shaking their heads.

"We haven't seen her, Lupin-neesan," Conan said weakly. Conan gave the photo back to him.

"But you know," added Ojisan thoughtfully. "That woman looks exactly like a little girl in Conan's class. I think that girl's name is Ai Haibara." Ojisan's eyes brightened. "Hey, I think they may be sisters!" Hattori's and Conan's faces became even paler. _Ojisan, you fool!_

Lupin-san's eyes widened somewhat. "Is that so?" A small smile tugged at his lips. If anything, he gave a quick stare at the boys. "Are you two alright? You look flustered."

_Shit! Did he see our expressions?_ Conan and Hattori nodded. "We're fine!" they said in unison.

Conan suddenly tugged at Hattori's jacket. "Heiji-neechan," he said, "I want to go home now." He gave a pleading glance at Ojisan.

Ojisan looked at Conan. "You're probably tired; we all are." With added annoyance, "We had to wake up at 5 in the morning to pick these two brats up!" He pointed at Hattori and Kazuha-chan. He sighed. "Now I have to pay for everything." He took out his wallet, pulling out some yen as he looked at the bill that was place on the table. He noticed some yen already on the table. Giving Lupin-san a 'thank you' glance, he paid for the rest. Ojisan, Ran, Kazuha-chan, Hattori, and Conan rose from their seats.

"It was nice to meet you all!" the girls said. The boys nodded. Jigen-san gave a small wave while Ishikawa-san just nodded and Fujiko waved as well. Lupin-san on the other hand smiled.

'Wait, Edogawa-kun," he said. "Didn't I say that I'll do three tricks for you?" Conan hesitated before nodding. He noticed Lupin-san's smile grew neutral. Waving his hand in the air, he flicked it once, showing a bowtie between his pointer and middle fingers. Flicking it again exposed a green tie between his middle and index finger. Then flicking it a third time, exposed a baseball cap between his index and pinky. "I'm sure these things belong to you."

Conan and Ojisan grabbed at their necks while Hattori patted his head. Eyes widening, they were about to protest when they saw that in their left hands were their respective possessions. With boggling eyes, Conan looked at Lupin-san who waved his hands showing that he didn't have them. "And that is number three."

Wowed beyond words, the boys were dragged away by the girls out the restaurant and to the white van. As the van drove away and the shock lessened, Conan muttered, "Damn that Ojisan! He may have put us all in danger!"

"Kudou, I hope that Lupin guy isn't…"

"I don't know, Hattori!" _Why does he have a picture of Haibara? Please don't let us both be right about this, cause if we are… we're in danger, big time!!_


	10. Chapter 10

I finally changed the title mostly because I've now introduced most of the characters involved in this x-over.

This chapter was actually part of 9 but because it was long enough as it is, this became a new chapter. This was also a bit rushed so as of this moment I can't think of any way to fix it.

So now I can finally say this:

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Detective Conan, Magic Kaitou and Lupin III.

* * *

Chapter 10

The moment the small group was gone, the four thieves immediately moved to sit next to each other, so they can plan their next move. But there were a couple of things that Jigen just had to get off his chest.

"This is the reason that we're here?" He stared hard at their friend and leader of the group, Arsene Lupin the Third. Jigen's suspicions about why Lupin wanted to go to Beika City, and the fact that using that quick ploy of the Princess Diamonds to stop asking questions had worked, was justified. Jigen himself was surprised. Lupin should have known that this might have resurfaced again.

"I can't believe this!!" muttered Fujiko, the look of being here not for the Diamonds could be clearly shown on her face. "A woman?"

"And a young one at that," Goemon tried to be his stoic self but Jigen could tell the annoyance was slowly seeping through.

Lupin didn't say a word at first. He immediately took out the picture of the woman and the picture of the Diamonds. The woman had a serious look on her face and hard eyes. She had short reddish brown hair and she wore what seemed to Jigen a scientist's outfit. He wasn't too sure; the picture cut off at her shoulders.

"You're wrong, Jigen," Lupin said colorlessly. He pointed at the picture. "I'M here for the woman." Then he pointed to the Diamonds. "We're here for the Diamonds." He noticed his food on the table, poked at it and pushed the plate away. "I waited too long and now it's cold."

"Tch." Jigen grabbed his glass of wine and drunk it down. "Lupin, I hope this woman doesn't bite us in the ass in the long run." Lupin innocently stared at Jigen.

"Guys, have anything like this ever done so?"

"YES," all three answered in unison.

Lupin laughed weakly. "That's so wrong." The waiter came and picked up the plates. Lupin stopped her and asked for a whole bottle of Champagne. As the waiter left to get his order, Jigen thought about the past couple of days in which there was an over drive of plans that they quickly thought up.

* * *

During their plane ride from Kyoto to Tokyo, Lupin had told the three about the people they would be up against.

"Really!" said Jigen, pissed off about the fact that smoking was illegal in planes and really needing a smoke at this moment. He couldn't grasp the fact that three of the people they had to look out for were kids… KIDS for kami's sake, even that little boy, Conan Edogawa.

"I know!" Lupin said as he looked out the window; the four sat across from each other, first class, with Jigen next to Lupin and Fujiko next to Goemon.

"What are we going to do?" asked Goemon. There was a small table which sat their drinks. Goemon immediately took his glass of sake and took a little sip.

"I heard that Kaitou Kid already sent a letter about stealing these yesterday," complained Fujiko a little. Jigen swore that Fujiko was bitching even worse than before they left.

"It's only a couple days away!" Lupin said, his voice bordering on obvious annoyance at Fujiko's usual whining. "This leaves us with plenty of time to find out about everything there is to know about our… guests." He paused as he turned from the window staring at them with his famous smile, meaning that he had already thought of a plan to set this whole thing up. This was the reason why Jigen, Goemon, and even Fujiko stayed with him. Clever and extremely resourceful, Lupin was always the brains behind every heisting operation, with a high rate of success.

"What's the plan?" Jigen asked. Personally, Jigen thought that Lupin was acting strange ever since he read an old Japanese newspaper article. It was a little subtle but him wanting to go alone despite the fact that they were all here (he usually works alone if they weren't around), alerted Jigen that something was wrong. Jigen also knew that Lupin wouldn't tell them anything about what's happening until probably when he thinks it's time… or in a dire situation. Even then, he might not say. Until Lupin decides to spill the beans, Jigen decided to just roll with it.

Lupin smiled. (Now that Jigen thought about it, that smile was slightly strained and forced, as if he had too many things on his mind, with the added heist not helping matters.) "Jigen, my friend! I'm glad you asked!

"First off, we're going to need an apartment to set up our operations for a little while. Next, we're going to split up, doing our own research."

"I see," said Goemon. "When we finish, that is when we will make up the plans for the Diamonds."

"Yeah." The other three nodded in unison. Grinning, Lupin pointed at both Goemon and himself. "You and I are going on a reconnaissance mission." He then pointed at Jigen. "You are going to research." And he lastly pointed to Fujiko. "And you will do both."

"And what will all of this be about?" asked Jigen.

"Goemon is taking the next flight to Osaka," Lupin said. He took out a ticket and gave it to him, along with a small amount of money. "He will be watching Heiji Hattori and is going to tell us what he's like." Goemon nodded in apprehension. Jigen raised an eyebrow and stared at him for an explanation. "Hattori-kun's parents are reeeally traditional and he practices kendo."

"I see," said Fujiko. "Goemon would be perfect." Jigen grinned. Goemon tries to be just as traditional in his search for spiritual purity. "Just make sure that you got that cell phone with you so you can call us and we can call you for updates." Goemon reached inside his shirt to take out a thin modern cell. Nodding, he put it back. Jigen knew that the phone slightly ruined his traditional image, but it was a necessary evil to keep in touch with him.

"Fujiko is going to research the hotel and scope it out. She's also going to find things about that actor and the party." Fujiko nodded as she sipped her coffee.

"Jigen, you're gonna research about our three Tokyo detectives, Mouri-san, Kudou-kun, and Edogawa-kun." Jigen nodded.

"What about you?"

Lupin stared at Goemon. "I going to watch those said three on the field. I'm also gonna check out the police department, to see if you-know-who will be there." He rolled his eyes. "We all know that he probably will. Annoying old man!" Lupin leaned back on his chair, staring out the window again. "After finding enough info, we'll then plan out the heist… and probably take a little vacation there, too…."

"What about Kid?" asked Fujiko.

"And about your Heist note?" added Goemon.

Still staring out the window, Lupin said with a smirk, "It's all taken care of." The three stared at each other and shrugged.

When the plane landed, Goemon left to take his next flight to Osaka to start his mission while the rest 'borrowed' a fine looking car that was left unprotected on the curb. They found an open apartment that would serve as their base of operations for the next four days or so. Jigen later found out from Lupin that he sent the letters not only to the police but had actually borrowed a plane and had flown it around Tokyo spraying the flyers all over, some of them reaching outside the city. The Jigen was surprised but not fully. Lupin would sometimes do things over the top.

"It's to find everyone involved," Lupin had said with that same strained smile. Jigen shrugged and thought no more about it.

* * *

"Jigen! Jigen! Anyone there?" Jigen snapped out of his daydream to see Fujiko staring at him, a smirk planted on her face.

Jigen waved away her stare. He still can't stand that woman. He noticed that Lupin got his bottle of Champagne but didn't open it. He wasn't staring at Jigen like Fujiko and Goemon was but was staring at the bottle with a strange grimace. Sensing Jigen's stare, Lupin gave a bright smile.

"Since we learned everything we needed to know about the detectives and about Kid--."

"Who would have thought that Kaitou Kid was really another kid?" muttered Jigen. This annoyance factor of kids probably screwing up everything is getting on Jigen's nerves. Man, he really needs a smoke, bad!

"We're going to Saturday's party in style!" Lupin spread his arms wide. "Tomorrow will be the preparations and also our day off to do whatever the hell we want!!!" He then looked at his watch. "Look at the time!" He rose from his chair, producing a bag for his bottle.

"Lupin, wait!" Fujiko cried. She pointed at the picture of the woman. "Who is she?"

Lupin raised an eyebrow. He picked up the picture and shoved it in his pocket. "Shiho Miyano." A smirk appeared on his face. "Conan-kun and Heiji-kun knows who and where she is." He looked at Fujiko with a bigger smirk. "Amazing! You actually show an interest to what I'm doing!" He leaned forward. "Does this mean you're jealous?"

Fujiko looked away. "No! I just want to know if she will interfere in some way to us!" For a moment Jigen saw a shadow appear on Lupin's face before it vanished, replaced by that strained smile, which Jigen noted, was worse than before. Goemon frowned. _So he noticed, too._ Fujiko was too busy hiding the obvious jealousy to notice that flash of emotion. "I love you, too, Fujiko-chan." He strolled out the restaurant, waving at them. Through the window, they saw Lupin waving for a taxi, which came. He entered and the taxi left.

"I should go too." Fujiko rose from her seat. "I have a date with a businessman." _Took no time in your 'relaxation', huh, Fujiko?_ As if sensing Jigen's thought, she added, "I was with him before Lupin asked for our assistance."

_Yeah, right._ Jigen even repeated this out loud.

"Humph! I don't need your opinion, Jigen!" She walked out the restaurant.

After a couple of minutes, Goemon finally said, "I know you saw that quick flash of emotion, Jigen, that Lupin exhibit. Something's going on with him and this Shiho is the focus of this."

"Wait, didn't he say those detective brats knew about her? Then why did they lie, especially that Conan?" Jigen thought back and remembered seeing their shocked, pale faces when seeing the picture, Lupin's slightly smug smile after seeing their reaction, their faces growing paler when Mouri noted that there was a look-alike girl in Conan's class, and the boys' successful attempt to leave the restaurant as quick as possible.

"Goemon." Jigen turned to his comrade. "What the hell is going on here?"

Goemon shook his head. "Everything might be revealed in the end." He rose to his feet, as well as Jigen. They both left the restaurant and went their separate ways. Jigen took out a cigarette and finally lit it, puffing in the sweet tobacco flavor. _Revealed in the end, huh?_ Lupin behaving strangely, a mysterious woman, weird detective kids… this might become more troublesome than it's worth.

* * *

Lupin sat quietly in the back seat of the taxi. He suspected that Jigen and Goemon were becoming suspicious of his behavior over the last couple of days. But he can dodge them for a while. He dug under his shirt and took out some sheets of paper, spreading them out on his lap. On one of the sheets was names with the word 'deceased' next to each one. One of the names said, 'Shin'ichi Kudou'. Frowning somewhat, he took out the Conan-kun and Shin'ichi-kun pictures and compared them. They looked eerily similar to each other. Lupin then took out an old picture of Shin'ichi-kun as a child and compared that to Conan-kun's. His eyes widened a little. _They're an exact match!_

"Interesting," he muttered. "Then the sparse information on him and **his** disappearance are linked." He leaned back in the chair. He won't tell the others about his little discovery… not yet anyway. He then took Shiho-chan's picture from his pocket. Staring at it, he face turned into a grimace.

"Sherry." He suddenly looked over the picture to the bag carrying the bottle.

"'Bite us in the ass', huh?" He took out the bottle of champagne and merely stared at it. "It's too late for that, isn't that right?"

The liquid inside the bottle bubbled in response.


	11. Chapter 11: Their Faces

The second time around, It is time for the **under 5 sentence summery of Chapters 6-10**

C6-(Pov: Heiji Hattori) Heiji Hattori and his Friend Kazuha Toyoma is traveling from Osaka to Tokyo by plane to join with Conan and co. for the party. During the ride, they see a man dressed as a samurai. After meeting up with Conan and co., both see the samurai leaving the same airport and decide to follow him. They are easily caught by the samurai and his friend, a man dressed in a fedora hat with a cigarette. They are saved by Conan's quick thinking and are left alone, both groups noting how fascinating each other are.

C7- (Pov: Heiji) Ran recounts the events that happened the day before to Kazuha and Heiji. Conan privately notes to Heiji that Kiyone was a fake and the belief that she was 'L' in disguise. Through deductions and information gathered, the detectives come to interesting conclusions. Conan calls Agasa to find any information on L, but is surprised with the number of names that are shown, even with reductions.

C8- (Pov: Samurai) Fedora himself recounts the similar events that happened the day before to Samurai, who was in Osaka studying Heiji. Samurai tells all he knows of Heiji while Fedora gives his comrade the data on Kudou and Edogawa, both noting the strange disappearance of Kudou and the sparse, fake info on Edogawa. They meet their third comrade, a woman, who tells them that their fourth member and leader had decided that they should meet in a restaurant. They now meet Conan and co. through Kogoro trying to hit on the woman, which "works", who also decides that they should join the trio to the restaurant. Conan and co agrees and the trio is now named: Samurai = Goemon Ishikawa, Fedora = Daisuke Jigen, woman = Fujiko Mine.

C9- (Pov: Conan) While waiting for the friend, Fujiko angers Ran to the point where she is about to kick Fujiko. Ran is stopped by the friend, shocking the others except his friends. Named Lupin, he immediately earns the suspicion of Heiji and especially Conan. They all enter the restaurant and the quartet explain about themselves, with Lupin surprising Conan and co. with magic tricks finishing this with showing a picture of a woman to the others. Seeing the picture, Conan and Heiji's suspicions of Lupin grow and force Kogoro and the girls to leave the restaurant quickly, not before Lupin gives another magic trick.

C10- (Pov: Daisuke Jigen, Lupin) After Conan and co. leaves, the four get together to start the next phase of their plan, with Jigen and the rest voicing their annoyance with Lupin III 's reason for being in Beika City. As Lupin orders Champagne, Jigen thinks back to a couple of days ago when they were getting ready to start their heisting plans, noting about Lupin's unusual behavior. Jigen is brought back to the present by Fujiko and they all separately leave, Jigen and Goemon privately voicing their concerns with what is going on. Meanwhile, Lupin, in a taxi, figures out a connection between Shin'ichi and Conan and states that things will get a lot worse.

I'm not too happy with how this chapter came out. It was completely redone with what I've written in my notebook. Please tell me what you think and I'll see if I can fix it.

* * *

Chapter 11

After arriving back at Ojisan's place, Heiji and Kudou told the others that they were visiting Hakase's place. The best reason they could come up with under severe stress (Damn those girls and their stares) was that Kudou remembered that Hakase asked him to come over to his house after picking up Heiji to see some of his new inventions and bring Heiji with him. They took the excuse at face value and thought no more about it. So they immediately left, making sure the girls didn't see the worried looks on their faces.

They decided to walk all the way, so they can talk together and not be disturbed. Surprisingly enough, they said nothing until they were near the old man's place. Heiji assumed that it was because they were both thinking about the people that they met not too long ago. Mulling over his own thoughts, Heiji came to the conclusion that those four people were odd in some way. He remembered them from somewhere but he couldn't quite figure out what. He rubbed his hair furiously, then noticing the same reaction from Kudou. _Two minds think alike, eh, Kudou?_

"I can't figure out where I've seen them before," Kudou said. His face darkened. "But I don't like this."

"Me too, Kudou," Heiji added. "That Lupin guy… Do you think…?"

Kudou stopped and turned. A flash of fear crossed his face. "I don't know, Hattori. If it is, then we have to take measures to make sure that he doesn't find Haibara and figure out who I am." Heiji nodded. If _they_ find out that the drug that should have killed him, shrunk him instead, they would come after him and everyone he knows and cares about, Heiji included.

"I'll help in any way I can, Kudou!" And Heiji meant it too. "Ah! We're here!" Heiji was the first to reach the door and knocked on it. It was immediately opened with three angry kids rushing to come face to face at Kudou.

"Conan-kun!" cried Ayumi-chan. "Why did you lie to us?"

"Yeah! Why?" cried Genta-kun.

"You wanted to deal with this alone like you usually do, right?" cried Mitsuhiko-kun.

The kids surrounded Kudou, flashing their questions at him like rapid fire. Flinching at their angry words, Kudou quickly lifted his hands, more to protect himself then to play innocent. Heiji gave an inner chuckle. _What did you do this time, Kudou?_

"I-it's because I didn't think that it would be that important, eheheheheheh!" Surprisingly enough, they took his word at face value. Their expressions softened, with Ayumi-chan smiling at him.

"Well don't do that again!" said Genta-kun.

"You're part of the Shonen Tantei, too, Conan-kun. Next time, tell us everything!" said Matsuhiko-kun. And with that, the trio of kids bowed as they said their hellos to Heiji and moved out the way for Haibara and Hakase to exit. Agasa-hakase had grey curly hair and a round face. He had a big nose which always sat small round glasses. He usually wore a lab coat over a sweater and pants when he was in the house.

"Hello, Conan-kun, Heiji-kun. Kids, come inside and watch TV okay?"

"Hai!" the kids cried, as they left the room.

"So, Kudou-kun, Hattori-kun, what happened to the two of you?" Haibara asked right off the bat. Hakase had explained the call from Kudou-kun hours ago, after trying to calm the kids down. She actually thought that they would have been here earlier. She noticed the concentration on their faces. _Something must have happened to them on the way to that detective's place._ The four walked past the living room, giving quick glances at the kids, to make sure that they would not be disturbed by them. They went downstairs to Agasa's lab, where a computer was situated. Hakase sat in front of the computer.

"What took you so long?" Hakase asked. Haibara noticed their slightly pale faces when he asked the question. She knew that it wasn't cold outside. This now proved that something **did** happen on the way to that detective's place.

"Hattori and I were thinking about some more characteristics." Kudou-kun said. "I think with this extra info that we thought up, the list will go down a great deal." Hattori-kun nodded.

Hakase immediately turned to his computer, "I'm all ears, Shin'ichi."

"I think we should add that he is a master of disguise," said Kudou-kun. Hakase stopped typing and gave a quick glance at them, raising an eyebrow.

"Remember what happened to me and Kiyone-chan yesterday?" Both Hakase and Haibara nodded. Haibara specifically remembered. She agreed with Kudou-kun that it was strange that the girl acted differently then how memory served him, although, she thought, Kudou-kun had been away from high school for about a year so, Kiyone-chan might have changed during that span. "As it turns out, she was a fake." Shocked gasps rang from the scientists. They turned to Hattori-kun.

He nodded. "Sonoko-chan had called her that night. She stated that she never met them at all. Her parents even vouched for her."

"I see," Haibara said. "So this means that the girl you met wasn't really her." _But is that the reason for your pale faces?_

"We think she was 'L'." Hattori-kun leaned on the door to the outside. Kudou-kun mimicked him.

"But Shin'ichi, why don't you think that the girl could be Kid?"

"Because he already knows about me, about both of me, and Ojisan." Kudou-kun's face darkened a little.

Hakase nodded and turned to the screen. "So this L is a master of disguise." They heard typing of keys and a beep. With a sigh, he glanced at the boys and said, "Anything else to reduce the numbers?" Both shook their head. "These numbers are actually manageable." The Meitantei duo walked to the screen.

Hattori-kun whistled. "Dang, there're a lot of names." He leaned over Hakase's shoulder. "It's still good…. Kudou, you check the left hand side, Hakase, the middle and I'll check the right." Everything was quiet as the men scanned the screen. Haibara herself didn't bother to help. As far as she was concerned, she had nothing to do with this.

She closed her eyes. Kudou-kun had been trying without much success to find information on the BO. She was surprised that he didn't outright ask her about anything she knew. Then again, she didn't know that much and he had already found out a lot. She personally believed that Kudou-kun shouldn't learn about their plans. Otherwise he would be in more danger. Just as he is always trying to protect her, she's trying to protect him._ He thinks that he is so strong…always being there for me._ A small smile crossed her lips. Another face somehow superimposed itself on Kudou-kun's face, a warm, smiling face that always broke into grin. _Oniichan?_

"WHAT?????????" Haibara immediately opened her eyes, sharply turning to the screaming Hattori-kun. Both his and Kudou-kun's eyes were wide open in shock as they backed away. Hakase frowned as he gave shifting glances at the two boys.

"What's wrong?" Hakase asked. Kudou-kun immediately went over to the right side, grabbing the mouse and clicking on something. Haibara walked closer to see what was wrong. Her eyes widened. She immediately held herself, shuddering. _That face… It can't… Oniichan?_ Haibara was too stunned to hear the rest of the conversation.

"What the hell?" Heiji couldn't believe this. Kudou had immediately grabbed the mouse and clicked on that guy's name. Not only did his face pop up, but so did pictures of his associates. "That bastard!" He added venomously.

"What's wrong, Shin'ichi, Heiji-kun?" Hakase had an obviously worried look on his face.

"Shit!" muttered Kudou. He gave a weary look at the doc. "We just met them not too long ago."

"Huh?" The old man grabbed Heiji. "You've met wanted criminals on the street, and you didn't call the police?"

"We didn't know," Heiji said quietly, his fists clenched. "Their faces looked familiar but we didn't know from where."

"He was on the news some years ago, him and his friends."

"I remember now Shin'ichi. They stole five million dollars worth of jewels from a bank in America. Their names and faces were posted all over but they were never caught." Hakase looked at the information and read it slightly out loud.

"Name: Arsene Lupin the Third; Age: Unknown; Nationality: Unknown; Occupation: Master Thief; he is wanted in all countries for theft, murder, assault, etc; known to be a master of disguise, a strategist, an assassin; Status: Unknown, presumably alive." The picture next to the information was that of a man with indeterminate age wearing a leisure suit (red jacket, blue shirt, yellow tie) and staring at the camera with a mocking, calm smirk. Heiji was immediately reminded of the Kaitou Kid's annoying poker face.

"Name: Daisuke Jigen; Age: Unknown; Nationality: Unknown; Occupation: Gunman, Thief; he is also wanted in all countries but more for murder then any others; he is assumed to be an ex mercenary or an ex mobster and is one of the best gunmen in the world; Status: Unknown, presumably alive." The picture of him, although not as big as Lupin's, was that of a man that looked older than Lupin with a black ensemble (suit, beard, and hat) with his hat covering his eyes and a cigarette. He also had a smirk though more subtle.

"Name: Goemon Ishikawa the thirteenth; Age: Unknown; Nationality: Japanese; Occupation: Swordsman, Thief; he has the shortest list of charges on him; he is known as one of the greatest swordsmen with a sword made out of a harder than diamond metal and is also a skilled assassin; Status: Unknown, presumably alive." The picture of his, about the same size as Jigen's was that of another man with a serious face wearing his samurai outfit. The expression he had was that of stoicism yet Heiji could tell that his eyes had the hint of that same emotion as his friends' smirks.

"Name: Fujiko Mine; Age: Unknown; Nationality: Unknown; Occupation: Thief; She's wanted in all countries mostly for theft; is known for getting into relationships with wealthy men and leaving them high and dry by taking all assets from them; also is a master of disguise and an assassin; Status: Unknown, presumably alive." Her picture was that of a beautiful woman dressed in a blue shirt. She was slightly posing for the camera, having the same smirk as Jigen and Lupin.

Hakase stared at the four pictures and the seething looks they were given by the boys. Frowning somewhat, he scrolled down the pictures to see if there was anything more to say.

"Kudou, you know what this means?"

"Heh. Those four are definitely L and his associates." Kudou turned to look at Haibara-san. Eyes widening, he rushed to her. Heiji was too busy looking at more info to notice.

"It says here that these four are under the jurisdiction of an inspector of Interpol, named Koichi Zenigata." Heiji saw a picture of an old man, older that the four, wearing a beige trench coat and a hat. Man, how bad is this man to have them still out there on the loose! _Or,_ Heiji thought, _how good are they to keep from being caught?_

"Haibara!" suddenly cried Kudou. Heiji turned his head to see a frantic Kudou shaking a shocked Haibara.

"Ai-kun!" Hakase rushed to her side. _What happened to her? It's as if she's seen…_ He gave a quick glance at the screen, and then gave a widening glance at Haibara.

She blinked as she snapped out of her trance. Quickly looking around, she gave a cool sigh. "So," she said. "Did you figure out who 'L' is, Kudou-kun?"

"Haibara, what happened?" Kudou-kun snapped. Her eyes widened. _Why? Why is he acting like _him_? I thought _he_ was…_

"Nothing, Kudou-kun." She tried to make her voice completely level. She noticed Kudou-kun's watch. "There's something on your watch."

"Huh?" Kudou-kun immediately took it off and flipped up the target lens that covered it. It was a tool that helped Kudou-kun aim right with his stun watch. At the same time, the basement door opened to show the three kids. Ayumi-chan held in her hands a black bird.

"Conan-kun, Heiji-niichan, Hakase, Ai-chan. Look what we found perched on the window!" Ayumi-chan let the bird go as it flapped its wings and landed on Hakase's computer, not saying a word.

"What the…?" cried Kudou-kun as he saw a black dot on the center of the target lens. Hattori-kun noticing this immediately took out his wallet and poured all of its contents out. He felt around the wallet until his mouth twitched, taking out of it another small black dot.

"What's that bird doing here?" cried Hakase as he tried to shoo the bird off the computer. It didn't budge.

"It was on the window sill outside," explained Genta-kun. "When we opened the window, it flew in and landed in Ayumi-chan's hand."

"I think it's a pigeon," noted Mitsuhiko-kun.

"Iie," Haibara-san noted quietly. She had taken the black dot from Kudou and was staring at it; she was also glancing at the bird. "It's a raven and this is a listening chip."

"WHAT???" Heiji cried angrily, his fist shaking. Kudou, on the other hand, calmly said nothing. "HE did this… Come out!!!" _Those magic tricks!!!_

The children and Hakase took steps back from the raging Hattori-kun. Ayumi-chan immediately went behind Kudou-kun. "Conan-kun? What's happening?"

Haibara gently grabbed Ayumi-chan from Kudou-kun. Kudou-kun was keeping his temper but she could see the gathering storm of rage in his eyes; Hattori-kun was already showing fury of the storm. _Why is Kudou-kun so calm? Has he figured something out? Does this have something to do with what happened to them earlier?_

"Hattori-kun, please calm down!" cried Hakase.

"Yes, please calm down, Hattori," Kudou-kun said in a thin voice. The fury-faced teen glared at Kudou-kun. He noticed the other kids in the room. His anger didn't subside but his face grew calmer.

"It seems you're out of the running," Kudou-kun said flatly. His eyes flickered in realization. He heavily sat on the chair, lowering his hat over his face.

"Conan-kun?" muttered a slightly worried Hakase. "May I ask…?"

"We met them on our way back to Ojisan's agency and we had a nice early lunch at a restaurant. It was not until we saw their faces here did everything begun to click into place.

"Now then, Lupin-san, since you have been listening to us all, why don't you grace us personally with your voice, or better yet with your face?"

There was a long silence followed by whole-hearted laughter. Haibara looked down to see that the voice was coming from the devices in their hands.

"Conan-kun? Can you tell us what's going on? I'm scared!" said Ayumi-chan. The two other boys nodded in agreement. Haibara herself was just shocked, trying to deny the familiarity of the voice that was ringing out.

After the voice finished laughing, it said calmly, "Sou Sou, you two have figured me out!"

* * *

1. Meitantei (noun) "Famous Detective" is its literal meaning, Mei – Being the suffix meaning Famous. This pretty much makes sense since Heiji and Conan (Shin'ichi) are famous detectives, although, in Shin'ichi's case, his alter ego as Conan is getting quite a reputation as well.

2. –Neechan, -niichan, (suffix) meaning older sister, older brother respectfully. They can also be used as a noun. It doesn't literally mean blood relation. Children use it to indicate closeness, "You're a big brother (sister) to me" kind of thing.

3. Iie, generally means 'no,' but can mean yes, depending on the type of yes or no questions asked.

4. Heiji is widely known in the anime and manga for his slightly short temper and his thinking before leaping. This has lessened to a degree as the series progressed.

5. I've heard that there will be a Conan special named Lupin Sansei vs. Meitantei Conan, in March, to celebrate the half century anniversary of two TV companies. I don't know the date it will come out but all I know is that it's going to be broadcast in the evening at about 7 pm on said two TV company channels. I'm so happy and I'm looking forward to this.

6. Sansei – literally means 'third generation' or "so and so is the child of Nisei (second generation)" So Lupin Sansei would mean that he is the third generation person having his family name.

6. Lupin now shows himself to the Detectives. What does Conan mean when he tells Heiji that he's out of the running? Why is Haibara acting strangely? All this and more in the next installment of "Conan vs Kid vs Lupin."


	12. Chapter 12: The battle of Emotions

Sorry for the long update. It seems I'm more productive in typing my stories when I type them on my college computers than at home.

Another chapter in which it was totally redone from what was written in my notebook. Tell me if anything's wrong and I'll try to fix it.

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters from DC, MK and LTT.**

* * *

Chapter 12: The Battle of Emotions

Lupin was slightly enjoying this; seeing the faces of the meitantei duo. He had learned through Goemon how quick-tempered Hattori-kun could be and to see the raging dark-skinned teen cursing him was too much. Edogawa-kun… or rather Kudou-kun's expression was intriguing to say the least. Through his own studies of him, Lupin learned that Kudou-kun was usually calm under pressure, so seeing a stormy-eyed, calm-faced child would be surprising, given that a child shouldn't look that way.

_But you're not a child, are you?_ Lupin chuckled again. He knew full well that he shouldn't mess with nor underestimate kids; experience had told him so.

He leaned back in his chair, surrounded by monitors and radios. He was in the apartment where he and the gang were stationing their operations. He was by himself now; Jigen wouldn't be here until about seven, Goemon, 6. He had no idea where Fujiko was. _She's probably dating some rich, old, fart, or at least someone who's rich. _That thought strangely didn't make him mad. He didn't even react when Fujiko was worming her way with Mouri-san. The way Mouri-san was acting reminded Lupin of himself, just more out there. He shuddered. _I guess I have changed when I got here._ He **had**overheard Jigen and Goemon's little conversation before entering the restaurant. But he was here on a personal mission, adding a heist didn't help him and also was putting an invisible strain on him; he hadn't slept for days, he didn't know how long. _Maybe when this is over, I can finally get some shut-eye! But until then…._

A white pigeon landed on the balcony of the apartment. Frowning to himself, he rose and opened the screen door, letting it in. It landed on one of the radios, from which he was listening to the meitantei duo. He noticed a container on the bird's leg so he gently lifted it up to open it. As he did so, the pigeon immediately flew away, leaving behind a neatly folded sheet of paper. Lupin opened and read it. He grinned.

"ANSWER US!!!!!!!"

_The Red-eyed Hattori-kun rearing his ugly head, huh?_He quickly sat back down on his chair, flipping on the switch to his microphone. Lupin hoped that Kudou-kun would be a little more entertaining.

* * *

"Lu-Lupin?" cried a shocked Hakase. The surprise on the old man's face was nothing compared to the looks on the faces of the kids. Haibara could tell that they had no idea what was happening, and the voice coming from little black dots must have unnerved them.

Tsuburaya-kun and Kojima-kun immediately went in front of Yoshida-chan.

"We'll protect you, Ayumi-chan!" cried Tsuburaya-kun. Kojima-kun nodded.

"Genta-kun, Mitsuhiko-kun," Yoshida-chan said, teary-eyed. She then turned to Kudou-kun. "Conan-kun, what's happening?"

A flinch, then a quick flash of a smile appeared on his face. "Everything's alright, Ayumi-chan." He looked at Hakase. "Can you please take these three home, Hakase?"

Hakase raised an eyebrow while the kids began to protest.

"Conan-kun, you're doing it again!" whined Yoshida-kun. "We're supposed to work together because you're part of the Shounen Tantei, too." The boys nodded again.

The storm clouds again appeared in his eyes as he shuddered slightly. Surprisingly, instead of yelling at them, he said calmly, "I understand that you want to help but… I don't want you to get involved in this…. Can you please listen to me, just this once?" The kids, Haibara, Hakase, and Hattori-kun were taken aback by this. _Kudou-kun, why are you so calm? This isn't like you. What did this man do to the two of you?_ She still couldn't get his voice out of his head. Memories began flooding in; she slowly shook her head to get rid of them. _It can't be him... he died a long time ago._

"He's right, Yoshida-chan." Haibara said coolly. "Was this the reason the two of you were so upset?" She noticed again that the tantei duo's faces paled.

Tsuburaya-kun frowned, staring at them. Nodding in understanding, he said, "Let's go!!!" The other two agreed. As they left, Yoshida-chan cried, "Tell us everything, Conan-kun, Ai-chan." The kids and Hakase left the basement, closing the door.

After what seemed like a minute, Kudou-kun said in a calm voice, "It's considerate of you not to say anything as I told my friends to leave."

A chuckle came from the dots. "You're welcome… Edogawa-kun." Haibara detected the pause. Her eyes widened. _Does this person…_

"So, let's get down to it," Hattori-kun suddenly muttered. "What's with your bird?" _His bird?_

A sigh. "Come upstairs, Hattori-kun, Haibara-chan… Edogawa-kun," the calmer, smug voice replied. Haibara stared at the raven on the computer, its eyes piercing into her, she shuddered. "Don't worry, Haibara-chan, the bird's friendly, won't harm you," the voice said. Her face grimaced.

"The bird has a camera on it to watch us," Hattori-kun said with restraint. Haibara was secretly worried that Hattori-kun would have grabbed the bird and try to rip its wings and feathers out to find the camera and then spend probably the next couple of minutes yelling at it. He instead took the bird and walked to the door, opening it to let Haibara and Kudou-kun pass him. The three went up the stairs and settled on a couch where Hakase's slightly large TV sat. It was on a commercial. Hattori had placed the raven on top of it, and actually sat on the left, letting Kudou-kun sit in the center and Haibara on the right. Haibara and Hattori-kun still held the little listening devices.

"Hold on a minute," the voice said. Two minutes later, the commercial that was on fizzled out and on it came into view a fuzzy image of a man that became clearer. The man had on a smirk, which grew a little wider. Haibara turned to see why. Hattori-kun stared daggers at the man while Kudou-kun frowned. Her eyes widened when she gave a good look at the man. She immediately hugged herself. Thoughts swirled in her head; tears formed in her eyes. She tried her best to stay calm as she saw the man staring at her through his raven camera. His face was completely neutral as a glint shone in his eye. She gave a small gasp. _So everything I was told… was a lie._

"Haibara-chan," said the man with a grin. "You don't look so good. Maybe you should sit this one out, too." With a chuckle, he added, "I don't want you to see these boys be defeated by a thief." Hattori-kun winced; Kudou-kun's mouth twitched.

"Okay," Haibara said calmly. "Good luck, you two." The two boys were too angry to notice. Yet she didn't see the quick glance from Kudou-kun, but this was caught by the man. She went to the basement door and entered. Closing the door, she shuddered and fell on her knees, letting all of her emotions and tears out. She held the device tightly in her hands, bringing it close to her face.

"Oniisan," she whispered.

* * *

Heiji glanced as Haibara-chan calmly walked out the living room. _She looks all right to me._ His thoughts, though, stayed on the man smiling at them. The man only glanced at her just to say that she should leave; he didn't look at her again. _So he doesn't know…. _He had a feeling that Haibara probably knew him by the way she acted downstairs. He knew that Lupin-san was listening to him and Kudou and believed that he put two and two together; figuring out that Haibara was Sherry. Lupin-san didn't react at all.

_Then again, he's probably hiding it all behind a Poker Face._Heiji smirked a bit. His instincts told him this and he believed it. Panic slowly coursed through him, though. He tried not to let it show. Besides, a battle of wits was about to start.

Mulling over his thoughts only took about a second or two. However, it felt longer as Kudou and Lupin-san stared at each other. The room felt a few degrees colder. Heiji pulled his jacket closer.

With a sudden smile, Kudou said, "Well, Lupin the Third, I would like to thank you for saving me yesterday, you and Jigen-san." His voice gave nothing away. "You hacked into this channel's frequencies just to show yourself to us. How kind."

Lupin-san shrugged, his smug smile vanishing a little. "You're welcome…Edogawa-kun. I would have used the computer downstairs but that room seemed cramped and dark for this." Lupin-san had on his lap a keyboard. He placed it somewhere behind his camera. "Now, tell me what you figured out so far about what I did these last few days. I'm sure Hattori-kun would love to add his input."

Both boys blinked and looked at each other. Heiji shook his head. He was out of this game even before it began, his own infamous temper costing him. Kudou had the grace of acting civil despite the fact that Kudou was just as pissed off as he was. Even though he hates to let Kudou have all the fun, it was Heiji's own fault. There was another way to be involved and that was to read their reactions.

"No, I think the kid here has already solved much, so I'll let him do all the talking." He nodded to Kudou. Kudou smirked in understanding. _Now let the battle begin!_

"On Tuesday, Kaitou Kid sent a letter to Yamada-san about stealing the Princess Diamonds four days from then, Saturday. I'm sure you have heard about it." Lupin-san nodded, waving his hand for Kudou to continue. _His expression is blank. Tch, nothing._ "The next day, you and your gang decide to steal the diamonds yourself, probably planned on doing it on the same day." Kudou's eyes thinned. "You split your crew up; since it's known that you research everything before actually stealing, to see how much trouble trying to get to your prize will be."

Kudou smirked and leaned back, a confident aura surrounding him. Heiji grinned. _Give it to him, Kudou._"I honestly don't fully know what tasks the four of you had, but one of you was a definite; Ishikawa-san was given the task to look at Hattori; to see if he lived up to all the press. If I had to guess about Mine-san and Jigen-san, I think that Mine-san was given the job of learning about the Beika City Hotel, the guests, the security, and the party set up. Jigen-san was probably told to find information on Occhan and I. You, on the other hand decided to look at us personally, by using disguises. Am I right so far?"

Lupin-san's face stayed expressionless, but his mouth curved up a little. Heiji blinked. _Kudou didn't bother to say 'Shin'ichi and I'. Damn!_

Kudou continued. "You've also read from the newspaper that Mouri-ojisan, Hattori and I were invited to the party immediately after Kid's letter. That's why, Lupin-san, you wanted to know about us." Kudou leaned forward. "You've sent your letter to the police and to the actor. But then you did something even Kaitou Kid barely ever does, by dropping the letters all over Tokyo. The reports were pretty much all over the place, but I assume that you used a plane to spread the letters all over the Tokyo Metropolitan area." The little boy locked his fingers. "As for the Kiyone incident, you probably disguised yourself as another student and asked around the school about me." Then he suddenly deadpanned, "But they probably said, 'The best person to ask about Shin'ichi is Ran Mouri.' So you decided to become someone who was familiar with Ran." The expressionless face broke into a calm smile. He was about to say something until the thief raised his hand.

"You were right, Kudou-kun. And I applaud you for that." The Osakan teen noticed the boy flinch as the thief used his real name. Heiji bit his lip. In that little exchange, Kudou was slowly beginning to loose ground while the thief held firm.

* * *

Lupin, himself, was judging the two boys in his own way, and concluded a couple of things, that they were reading his every move, that they lived up to the hype… and that Lupin just gained some ground. Kudou-kun's flinch did not go unnoticed, as well as the way he sounded about having his _friend_, Mouri-chan being singled out. _Friend? Yeah, right!_

"Since you said so much already…" He himself sat up and went into serious mode. "I overheard your conversation about finding out who 'L' was and your Osakan friend here keeps calling you 'Kudou'. You can figure it out from there." This was half right but he didn't want to get into that yet. Hattori-kun slightly stiffened. _Now the boy feels worse._With a shrug, Lupin added, "I assume you figured much of this out during that drive to Mouri-san's home and before you met me?" Now the little boy stiffened. Kudou-kun lost some ground again. "It's interesting that you two became upset over a small picture of a woman, unless you know her?" Their faces paled. Lost some more ground. "Don't think I didn't see them." Lupin made sure he added a smug smile. Something began to register in his head the moment he asked, but he pushed that away. He put it in the 'worry about it later' part of his mind.

"Nice acting by the way, Kudou-kun, for leaving the restaurant. My friends are just as observant as me, and I'm sure that the little stunt you pulled registered on their 'something's going on here' radar. Now I would ask 'how do you know this woman?', but this isn't the time and place for it." Now he silenced himself to see the damage he had caused to these boys. In fairness, Kudou-kun's poker face was pleasant to see, that he believed that he had the upper hand. Staring at them now, his own poker face nearly fell.

The dark skinned boy's face was frozen in horror, as was the child's. They were both struggling to keep themselves calm but it became hopeless. Lupin's little speech nearly shoved Kudou-kun off the ledge. The little boy was able to recover quickly from the shock slightly better than Hattori-kun, but the damage was done, the thief can tell.

"Thief-san," Kudou-kun said slowly, eyes flashing in anger. He had regained his composure after Lupin's revelations; he was gripping the couch tightly and was shaking slightly. "I don't know what you mean. Hattori and I only met her during one of our cases. Besides…" He grinned unnaturally. "Shouldn't you be worrying about your friends finding out about the REAL reason why you're in Beika City, not just for the woman and the diamonds?" Poker face fell off Lupin, not completely but just enough to see the genuine shock he exhibited. It was only for a second; the thief didn't want them to think they're regaining ground. Both of them may have practiced using masks but Lupin was far older and more experienced in it then Kudou-kun.

Lupin took a quick glance at his watch. _1:45, eh? It's almost time._ He stared at his competitions as they smiled at him. _Sorry, Hattori-kun, Kudou-kun, I have to end this._ He leaned forward at the camera, and said in a smug voice, "That was a twist, but I see it's fine for you don't know what it is." Lupin feigned looking at the ceiling in wonder. With smug voice and smile, he added, "But if that's the best you got, then it's no wonder you can't catch Kid. Then I guess—"

"YOU AND KID WILL BE CAUGHT. I'LL MAKE SURE OF IT!!!" the little boy exploded, slamming his fists at the small table in front of the meitantei duo. He stared straight at his bird with clenched teeth and an angered grunt.

Hattori-kun, on the other hand, had flinched and leaned way back during the boy's outburst. "Kudou…" he trailed weakly, possibly understanding the rage but knowing…

_Bingo!_

Lupin theatrically gave them a stunned look with a sigh. "We'll see, we'll see." He then had to add it, to see the look on the child's face. "I win." He reached over to his keyboard and typed a few keys, to shut off communication. His raven then flew away, out of an open window, and so he shut off the TV.

Lupin then spent the next 10 minutes sitting in his chair looking at the ceiling, deep in thought, muttering, "So she's alive." Shaking his head, he rose from his chair and left the room. He had a lot of work to do. He gave his famous grin, as he left the apartment.

* * *

The TV fizzled and returned the show that was on during the talk. In its entirety, it took no more then 30 minutes, but it felt longer. The raven gave a small caw and flew out an open window in Hakase's house. Heiji slowly rose and turned off the TV, sitting right back down. There was a long silence as neither he and Kudou said a word nor looked at each other. Heiji flinched when he heard a pop and a crackle; the listening device that was in his hand popped.

"Dead," he muttered. He finally stared at his friend and his mouth twitched. Kudou was shaking slightly, hands firmly on the table, his bangs covering his eyes. The Osakan, in all his times associating with his rival, had never really saw this level of pissed.

Heiji slowly moved next to him, hesitantly placing a hand on his friend. The shuddering immediately stopped.

"I actually lost," he said with a chuckle. "I took his bait and let him let me push myself off the cliff." He gave a bitter sigh.

"Don't worry about it, Kudou! We'll get him next time!" Heiji had no idea how to cheer him up; he was just as shell shocked. _Man, I wish Nee-chan was here. She could really help him out here._ But she wasn't so he had to make due.

"Think we should walk back to occhan's place and talk about this." Heiji did the right thing by watching the match. There were a few things that he noticed from Lupin-san's expressions. And he believed that Kudou and him would figure it out and make the necessary arrangements and preparations for the Hotel Party. Grinning he rubbed Kudou's hair. "When we leave, we should watch where we step."

Kudou finally stared at him with annoyance. The rubbing of the hair Heiji knew he didn't like. But the bitter look on his face was gone, yet it didn't disappear. "What do you mean, Hattori?" he said as he fixed his glasses.

"Exactly what it sounds like. I mean, we don't wanna trip over you ego or anything. I don't like getting bruises. And it's really a big thing to trip over anyway, so —OW!"

The pint–sized detective took the liberty of shutting up Heiji with a good kick to the knee. With a smile, he started to laugh, along with Heiji (after a glare and a rub over his aching kneecap).

_That's good. I cheered him up a bit._ "C'mon! Let's go!"

* * *

A) Lupin vs Conan will come out On March 27 (March 26 in US timeline, it might appear on youtube on March 27) The plot is, I think, Kogoro, Ran and Conan were asked by a royal family member to help solve a case pertaining to said royal family. At the same time, Lupin has had his eyes set on stealing one of their treasures. So an inevitable confrontation will happen. The trailer is on youtube.


	13. Chapter 13: Zenigata's Realizations

Chapter 13: Zenigata's Realizations

Inspector Koichi Zenigata rubbed the back of his neck. In front of him were piles and piles of paper and files. He expected **some** files on Kaitou Kid… but not this much! Luckily, Inspector Ginzo Nakamori was right next to him, reading through the files. He learned through Megure-keibu about Nakamori-keibu being in charge of the Kid Task Force, and his drive to capture the white-clad thief. The man reminded Zenigata of his continuous task of capturing Lupin the Third. He suddenly grinned. _Two minds are better than one._

"Wanted in some countries for thievery," Zenigata muttered under his breath. "Then about eight or so years ago, he vanished. About eight months or so ago he reappeared. He's been mostly stealing things in the Tokyo area." Zenigata stared at the recent photo of Kaitou Kid. Noticing something, he pulled out another file that contained a picture of Kaitou Kid at least ten years ago. The Interpol officer frowned. _Something's off here._ He realized that the two pictures of Kid looked similar to each other but the older picture had Kid with a slightly different hairstyle and with him looking older. He was told by the force that no one knew who Kid looked like and assumed that the way he looked when he appeared in his heists was another disguise. To him, the way he appeared **was **his real features.

This brought Zenigata to this intriguing little fact, that these two Kids are different.

There was a theory that was developing in his mind.

(Everyone in his own department always called him pathetic, simple-minded, and slow, stating that they could do a better job at catching Lupin. He inwardly chuckled when they all failed miserably, and then bowed at his feet when they asked for his help. He wasn't a petty man but he knew that Lupin could only by caught by him. That would teach them not to belittle him, those moronic idiots.) Oh, right… back to his theory.

Zenigata's theory was that the Kid of today was possibly the fan or protégé of the previous Kid… and that something happened to that previous thief. The gap between them was too wide for this Kid doing it for the previous Kid's kidnapping. The Interpol inspector had to assume that the Original Kid either retired or died. There, the theories diverged wildly. If the new Kid was a fan, then he, or she, would most probably train themselves in the art of thievery, magic, and disguising. This would have taken years of training, which was not impossible but only to the real devotee of Kid.

The second major theory was that the new Kid was a relative of the original. And had the better means to train in these arts most likely because that the original trained that relative, until the original retired or died. Then the relative further trained himself until he believed that he was ready to take on the mantel of Kaitou Kid.

There were other ideas that deviated more or less from his two main theories. But the most important thing was that the two Kids were different.

"Nakamori-san." The spiky-haired mustached man looked up from his own file-looking to stare at his superior. "When were—?"

"Years ago!" Nakamori-san muttered, with a half done cigarette dangling from his mouth. _He looks almost as ragged as me! _ "I was always so close at getting him. But he keeps using his tricks to get away!! Damn Thief!" With a few more unsavory curses, (Zenigata didn't even _think_ these words existed in the Japanese dictionary!) he added, "How were you able to catch Lupin?"

Oh, did Zenigata wanted to answer that … but he couldn't. The reasons ranged from accidentally bumping into each other to Zenigata actually thinking outside the box to 'this was all part of Lupin's plans.' Even if he did catch the thief, Lupin always escapes. His track record was better that Nakamori-san's but the escapes cancelled them out… at the end of the day, he was no better than Nakamori-san.

Nakamori-san stared straight into Zenigata's eyes. Eyes slightly sparkling and nodding in understanding, he said, "At least you were able** to **catch him." Both men sigh in tired disappointment. They can never get a break. "Why'd you asked?"

"I think this Kid is different from the one years ago."

The Kid Task Force inspector's eyes widened. Before he said anything, two men walked in. More like one stormed into the place with the second person being dragged, trying without success to pull the first man back. The first man, who wore a suit and had a moustache and slicked-back hair, cried, "Megure-keibu!"

"Mouri-san!" cried the unfortunate second man, who had on a blue-green suit… his name was Takegi-keiji, if Zenigata remembered. "Stop!"

"Takegi-kun, what's going on?" asked a man with a grey suit. He walked up to the two. His black hair came to a fluffy point on the left side of his head.

"Sh-Shiratori-san!" Takegi-keiji tried but once again failed to pull back the irate Mouri-kun. "Mouri-san came bursting in here—!"

"Shiratori-san!" cried Mouri-kun. "Where's Keibu-dono?"

Zenigata frowned at the man. _Interesting! He's almost the same from all those years ago._ He looked a little more clean cut, though. "So he's now known as 'Sleeping Kogoro'?" he muttered.

Nakamori-san gave a brief nod. "Never seen him do it though…." The inspectors were well hidden behind the file skyscrapers, so they weren't noticed.

Inspector Ninzaboro Shiratori sighed. "You probably _somehow_ heard of the secret inspector, didn't you?" Takegi-keiji yelped in alarm as Shiratori-keibu glared at him.

"I didn't say anything!" the tan-skinned detective cried defensively.

"I figured it out myself," Mouri-kun beamed. "He's from the ICPO, right?" He folded his arms, nodding. "Nothing can escape the eyes and ears of the Great Detective Kogoro Mouri-sama!" He threw back his head and laughed. All of the officers in ear and eyeshot sweatdropped at this man, including Zenigata, whose mouth twitched.

"What's going on here?" Mouri-kun stopped laughing to see a pudgy man with a yellow hat and trench coat, followed by a short haired woman in a brown dress suit, and two kids with messy hair and dressed in their high school uniform. The kids had a striking resemblance to a couple of kids whom he had never seen since they were elementary schoolers. He frowned. _Is that Ran-kun and Shin'ichi-kun? I don't think their hair was like that._ The teens separated from the officers and walked towards Nakamori-san and Zenigata, the Ran-kun look-alike hugging Nakamori-san. The Shin'ichi-kun look-alike gave one raised eyebrow in Mouri-kun's direction before stopping next to them.

With a surprised grin, Nakamori-san whispered, "This is my daughter, Aoko and her best friend, Kaito Kuroba." Zenigata nodded.

"Is that 'Sleeping Kogoro'?" asked Aoko-chan. Both men nodded. "He's … um…."

"Interesting?" finished Kaito-kun with a slightly lopsided grin. The Interpol inspector bit his lip, everything that was said he didn't hear. _Something's not right here._ Zenigata's senses were going off; his gut feeling was telling him that… **HE'S HERE!!!** Zenigata grinned and chuckled. He slowly took out his handcuffs.

* * *

Kaito noticed the beige-hatted man taking out a pair of handcuffs. _Why is he doing that? _Kaito and Aoko were visiting the Beika police station since Aoko's father was working there temporarily to get both Kid and the mystery thief. They happened to come across the pudgy and female detectives, who were surprised to see them, mistaking them for Mouri-chan and Kudou-kun. He chuckled a bit. Then they came into the unfortunate scene of the egotistically laughing Kogoro Mouri.

The 'sleeping' detective smiled. "Keibu-dono! Where's that ICPO inspector? I want to meet him personally so he can see my skills and let us work together."

Megure-keibu sighed, while Kaito gave an inner chuckle. Kaito suspected that Mouri-san probably overheard Megure-keibu's and Takegi-keiji's conversation while Tantei-kun probably gave him hints, leading Mouri-san to the discovery. "You've already met him." Megure-keibu pointed to the table where the inspectors, Aoko and Kaito were, hidden well behind the file skyscrapers. The teen noticed the beige hat man sighed.

"So, Mouri-kun, it's been awhile." He rose from his chair and went in front of the table.

Mouri-san stood stunned. "Zenigata-sa –, I mean, keibu!" Both men shook hands. "It has been awhile!" He grinned. "I didn't think that it would be you!"

The tan-skinned timid detective looked on in slight interest. The female detective slowly walked next to him. "Are you alright, Takegi-kun?"

"Ahh!" he yelped in surprise. "S-s-Satou-san!" He started to panic a little as he patted himself. His face brightening, he took a flower and gave it to Satou-keiji. She looked on in surprise, a small blush on her face. "F-f-f-for you, S-s-Satou-san." _Way ta go, man._ Kaito had to admit, that was a good way to impress someone you like.

"Kaito," Aoko suddenly muttered. "Why is the room so cold?" Kaito shuddered. It indeed became like 10 degrees colder. He looked around to see why. Almost every male officer stared daggers at Takegi-keiji. Their death glares were actually freezing the room. He noticed Nakamori-keibu pulling up his jacket.

"Why is it freezing in here?" the man muttered. "The air conditioning shouldn't be that low."

Kaito himself wrapped his hands around his chest, shivering. _What's with those looks? It's as if him doing it would spark world war three._ It seemed Takegi-keiji felt the directed glares as he shrunk into himself a bit.

"Good show, Takegi-keiji!" Mouri-san walked over to the detective and patted him on the back. His yelp actually caught everyone's attention, so they all saw the exchange. Megure-keibu and Zenigata-keibu gave small coughs. If anything, the death glares from those same male officers intensified. Takegi-keiji chuckled nervously.

"Mouri-san…" he muttered weakly.

"Zenigata-keibu-dono," began Mouri-san, apparently ignoring that he had a hand in the detective's increasing plight. Kaito reeeeally felt sorry for the poor man. "Since you were sent here to find that other thief, 'L ,' I think that you already know who that person is. So can you tell me?" Kaito smirked. He already knew who that man was and knew that the thief may be way out of Mouri-san's league.

The inspector abruptly burst out laughing, gaining confused looks from everyone, as he began twirling his suddenly exposed hand cuffs on his finger. "I don't have to, Mouri-kun." Kaito wondered if the guy was just as… complex as the detective. In a slightly loud voice, "You know, you are in a police station, surrounded by cops with no chance for escape and you have the nerve to still waltz in here? I don't damn know how you found out about me being here but--." He threw his cuffs. "I finally got ya!!!"

The cuffs flew with such precision that they latched on to the wrist, turned and latched on to the other. Kaito was pretty much impressed with the accurate throw but was stunned by the person who was cuffed.

Takegi-keiji was stunned at the handcuffs on him; so was everyone else.

"Keibu, what's this?" he cried, slightly panicking.

"Keibu, you don't think…" Nakamori-keibu stared at the detective as he rose from the paper-covered desk, rushing next to the other inspectors.

Satou-keiji's eyes widened. "He can't be! But how?"

Aoko suddenly asked, "What happened? Why are you arresting that man? Is he…" She gasped. "Kaitou Kid in disguise?" Kaito gave a sarcastic snort. _I'm right here._ But then his eyes brightened. _Then he's--._

Takegi-keiji raised his cuffed hand in protest. "But, I'm not—."

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP. BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP.

Everything was silent as the detective looked at his watch. "4:00," he muttered out loud. Sighing deeply, he said, "He should be coming right about now."

As if on cue, a man rushed in, breathing hard, Along with a chubby man in pants, a sweater and a jacket. "Satou-san!" cried the Takegi-keiji. "I came in at 4:00, just like you said! And I found Chiba-san on the way." He then noticed his double. "Why am I there handcuffed…? WHY AM I THERE???"

"Takegi-kun, what are you talking about?" A wary Satou-keiji asked.

Still fixated on his twin, he answered, "You called me an hour ago, stating that Megure-keibu ordered that I could continue my rounds until four." He frowned as he took out his phone, pressing some button and showing it to the female detective. Some of the other officers, including Mouri-san and Kaito looked over Satou-keiji's shoulder. Her name and number, along with the date and time, 3:00 pm, of the call was shown .

"I didn't call you." She took out her phone and pressed some buttons. She gasped. On her cell was the sent call, showing Takegi-keiji's number and the same date and time of the call. "But I didn't call you, Takegi-kun."

Mouri-san chuckled, as if he knew how it went down. He pointed to 'Takegi' as he said, "Yuurei, anata da!" All eyes fell on Mouri-san. Kaito blinked and 'Takegi' just stood there, open mouthed. "Yuurei -san, you used your powers to steal Satou-keiji's phone and made a fake phone call to Takegi-keiji, so you can make yourself appear to us as Takegi-keiji. Then using more of your powers, you slipped back Satou-keiji's phone." He then barked in laughter which turned to a series of quiet coughs as blank stares focused on him. Kaito's Poker face was the only thing keeping him from falling on the floor in fits of laughter.

"Otousan, is Mouri-san alright?" asked Aoko. Nakamori-keibu just shook his head.

"I don't think that even I'm that off my rocker," the just as crazy, obsessed about Kid inspector muttered.

'Takegi' grinned, mouth twitching in suppressed laughter. "A yuurei, you say." With one hand in his pocket and the other scratching his head, he chuckled. "A kaitou is actually more like it." He suddenly grabbed Satou-keiji's hand and kissed it. The detective was too stunned to retaliate. "The rose is real, but it doesn't compare to your true beauty." He took back the rose and crumbled it up, out popping a small bouquet of red roses, which she took with a small blush. With a small smile, he added, "But it seems you're already taken." He gave a quick glance at Takegi-keiji.

Kaito noticed that something was wrong; at the moment, he didn't know what. Most of the officers began to surround 'Takegi', with Zenigata-keibu leading. Two large smirks shown on both his and the inspector's faces, albeit for different reasons. Then something clicked in Kaito's head. _That's what's wrong! He's good!_

"You're in trouble now!" cried the inspector. But he blinked. "What happened to the cuffs… oh crap, crap, crap!"

Shiratori-keibu cried in alarm as he raised his arms, handcuffs firmly on his wrists. "How did--?"

'Takegi' chuckled. "Trade secret."

An angered Zenigata-keibu cried, "Get him!" The officers that surrounded him lunged forward. 'Takegi' folded his arms and looked at the ceiling. _What's he doing? They're gonna crush him and he's acting so calm…. _That slightly reminded Kaito about the similar things he done, which coincidently made him realize what the fake officer might do next. That made him grin, despite himself. Everyone was too busy watching the scene to notice the grin.

Back to the oncoming dog pile, 'Takegi' gave the same grin, slightly wider, as he nodded to himself and jumped. The officers slammed into each other, forming said pile on the floor. The non-piled people, which were Aoko, Mouri-san, Megure-keibu, Satou-keiji, and Kaito, stared in wonder as the fake gave a circus style back flip to the chair behind a desk that was near the detective and pudgy inspector. He landed perfectly in it.

"Cool!" was the only thing Aoko said. Kaito could only nod. He himself can do that, too, so it was still impressive. 'Takegi' gave an amused smile as the officers groaned and slowly got off each other, Zenigata-keibu, the real Takegi-keiji, Nakamori-keibu, and the hand cuffed Shiratori-keibu being the last to rise.

Nakamori-keibu rubbed his head. "I didn't think you'd be that good."

"Kaitou Kid and I have two similar but different styles." 'Takegi' shrugged. "But it'll be fun when either one of us leave with shoes."

"Hm?" Kaito could have sworn that the guy gave a quick glance his way as he talked. The magician teen raised an eyebrow.

The fake 'Takegi' clapped and laughed. "Tottsan! You're getting better and smarter! You found out faster than I thought!" He then turned his attention to Mouri-san. "Long time, no see, Mouri-san!" When he frowned, the fake sighed and said, in a different male voice, "Didn't I say that I was a magician of sorts." With that, he grabbed at his neck and started to pull. His neck became lighter in color. As he continued to pull, gasps from everyone but Zenigata-keibu and Kaito was heard all around. Kaito personally felt all giddy all over again. _It's him! I finally get to meet him!_ The man dropped the mask on the desk.

Mouri-san's jaw dropped. Kaito saw the desperate look on the detective's face as glanced at every officer in the room, eyes finally resting on the beige hatted man's scowl. Eyes as big as saucers, he weakly looked at the man sitting smugly behind a desk. With a slightly small emotional voice, he said, "L-Lupin-san! You're 'L' ?"

Lupin-san grinned. He raised his left hand in the form of a gun, 'shot,' and said, "My full name's Lupin the Third."

* * *

1) –dono, -sama : suffix: more respectful that –san, -dono really means 'lord or lady' and is more respectful that –sama. Naturally, people don't say their own names with suffixes. Kogoro calling himself –sama is because of the obvious fact that he's gloating with an inflated ego. There are many examples of characters calling themselves with -sama in such a way.

2) I didn't realize this until I fully read some other fanfiction and took a slightly deeper look at Magic Kaitou. When I wrote this originally I had no clue that these manga characters lived in another city but still in the Tokyo Metropolitan area. Glad I figured it out before going further.

3) 'Yuurei', 'Kaitou': noun: the only similarity between the two is the common word 'phantom' so it's a semi-play on meaning. Kaitou means Mysterious or phantom thief. Yuurei means ghost or phantom. Kid and Lupin are kaitous to say the least.

4) 'Anata da': sentence: "It is you!" Said many a time in the manga and anime.

5) "Tottsan": noun: combination of the words for 'old man' and 'father.' Can mean either "Old man" or "Pops". Lupin calls Zenigata this.

6) It's getting interesting. What's going to happen between the meeting of thief and police? Tune in next time.


	14. C14: Kaito's Plan Lupin's Behavior

Over 3000 hits… just 11 reviews…. Read, Enjoy, Review.

You know the declaimer drill: I don't own Detective Conan, Magic Kaito, and Lupin the Third.

If I did, Conan would have cracked a long time ago, Kaito would have found Pandora in the most stupid of places, and Lupin would be more action-y. All three would have some angst. Angst is one of my favorite genres, that and Sci-fi.

* * *

Chapter 14: Kaito's Plan; Lupin's Behavior

"You met him?!" cried Megure-keibu.

The officers were rubbing their heads, arms and legs in pain and frustration. Sitting on a chair behind a desk was the infamous Lupin the Third. He was just sitting there, arms folded, leaning back with a small smile. To make matters worse, he was wearing the same suit as one of the other officers in the precinct. He had disguised himself as one of them, for reasons unknown but only to him. Zenigata wasn't sure whether what he was doing here was ruined inadvertently by Mouri-kun, or was helped. What bewildered him the most was that Mouri-kun knew him.

The detective nodded to the keibu's question. "It was earlier today. I was picking up the Osaka kid and his girlfriend from the airport. I happened across his friends first; they were waiting for him. Their names were…"

"Jigen, Goemon, and Fujiko, right?" Zenigata asked. Mouri-kun slowly nodded, eyes widening. Zenigata gave an inner sigh; he wasn't surprised. Even though Lupin was an international criminal, much of his exploits were now outside Japan. The Japanese populace has more or less forgotten about him and his crew… until he does something big, like this one. Personally, the Interpol inspector was unsure why Lupin was being anonymous; he usually sent flyers proclaiming his heist with his name all over, sending panic and anticipation for the upcoming moment. "Daisuke Jigen, Goemon Ishikawa and Fujiko Mine are also wanted criminals and are his nakama." He would let the detective get over the shock; Lupin was always quick to take this advantage of chit-chat to bolt. But he was surprised at what he saw when he glanced Lupin's way.

Lupin was still sitting in the chair, eyes slightly downcast, muttering, brooding … wait, **brooding?****!!! **Lupin never broods! He was more of a goofy childlike kind of guy. _What the hell?_ Lupin stopped muttering as his face turned into a grimace. _Something more is going on here._ This he pushed aside. The heist comes first; Deal with the other insignificant thought later.

But many other annoying thoughts surfaced in his mind; only one he paid attention to. His mental thief detector sensed another thief in the room. Years of chasing Lupin had enabled him to detect other thieves; this much, he was proud to say, was one of the few good things about the pursuits. He couldn't sense much from the _new_comer, just his existence. _So Kaitou Kid's here too. Perfect._

"Lupin-san… did you find that woman?" Zenigata came back from thinking to hear Mouri-kun ask that … question. He couldn't think of the right word. 'Unusual' would be one, but Lupin was a playboy, through and through. Another would be anticlimactic, only because a thief is here and the first things that should be said are 'how can that be?' not… hold on… what is Mouri-kun talking about?

Lupin was caught off guard by that question, too, raising an eyebrow in the detective's direction. The grimace was gone, as well as any hint of his happy-go-lucky expressions that he usually shows. With a chuckle, he said, "Yes." Zenigata flinched. That insignificant thought at once came up. _Something's going on with Lupin!_The insistent voice cried, along with alarm bells ringing in the background, double time. Double because Lupin's voice and chuckle was dry, very dry and because the only other person in the room to flinch was Nakamori's daughter's best friend, Kaito Kuroba. _Why he flinched?_

Once again, Zenigata placed the _still insignificant_thoughts to the back of his mind. He could figure them out later. This was more important. Lupin, sitting, not moving, in the middle of a room, fully surrounded by police! He chuckled. He would not make the same mistakes again. The cuff trick and his mental ceiling calculations Zenigata did not fully account for. Mouri-kun, although wrong about the culprit, was probably right about the process. Zenigata gave secret hand signals to some of the officers to slowly surround the desk. The officers gave quick nods and gradually did as they were told.

Megure-san immediately took out his badge. Nodding to Zenigata, he said, "Lupin the Third, you're under—."

"Do you want to know why I'm here?"

Zenigata did a double take. Everyone else was frozen in their spots. _Lupin! This isn't like you at all!_

"I'm here to see all my competition," he began, a mocking smile on his face. "The detectives, cops, and good old Tottsan." Lupin started to dig into one of his pockets. "As for competing with Kaitou Kid, I actually wanted to meet such a fascinating character." He closed his eyes as he continued, rummaging through his pocket. Zenigata was on high alert. He could be bringing out capsules filled with cover smoke, or worse, sleeping gas. He saw all the other officers tense. The thief suddenly took out that something, a black rose. He twirled it in his hand, suddenly saying in an icy voice, made harsher by his cold smile, "And to find who I have lost and to kill who I have found." He threw the rose in the air. Thick white smoke came out of it, covering the entire room.

"GET HIM!!!" Zenigata cried before following a lot of people into fits of coughing.

* * *

A lot of things happened at once. The moment when Lupin-san threw his rose in the air (Do black roses really exist? He has to check that out.), Kaito immediately grabbed Aoko and placed her behind the skyscraper desk.

"Don't move from there, okay?" Kaito asked. He didn't think the thief would do something horrible to Aoko but it was a just-in-case scenario. With the cops falling all over each other, he didn't want her to get hurt.

"Where are you going?" asked the skeptical girl.

A face-spitting grin graced his face. "I'm gonna see that thief! What else?" Staring at her frown, he countered, "Daijoubu, Aoko! I'll be fine." She sighs and nods. He took a few steps back as the thick white smoke enclosed the room, blinding everyone. Kaito quickly donned a gas mask that doubled as a vision enhancer, enabling him to see beyond the smoke as if it wasn't there. Looking around, he couldn't help but laugh.

The police were once again in a dog pile on top of the desk, with Lupin-san nowhere in sight. Takegi-keiji was pulling Satou-keiji away from the carnage. Mouri-san was pretty much sitting in a chair, who along with Megure-keibu and some other remaining officers were coughing. He was still in shock apparently. The only person he still didn't see was Lupin-san. _Where did that thief go?_ He was then grabbed by the arm and gently shoved into a room. Slightly dazed, the magician found himself in an interrogation room. He heard a click meaning the door was closed and locked, signaling no escape for the boy.

Kaito's Poker Face slammed down as he searched for escape routes. His eyes fell upon a figure leaning on the other side of the wall. The only light was coming from the dim lamp hovering over the table. Kaito could not see the man's face.

"Sit!" the man said sternly, pointing to a chair on the other side of the table, his voice sounded suspiciously like Nakamori-keibu's. He grabbed Kaito's face mask and pulled it off. "Don't bother…Kid. I've made sure you won't escape from me." Kaito complied, still thinking of ways to get out of this situation. IT was not looking good. He was inwardly panicking. _How did he know? I was careful in front of him._

"I can't believe YOU of all people were that thief!" He muttered in disappointment.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Nakamori-keibu?" Kaito said calmly, the panic in the inside going on overdrive.

"Don't play dumb, you rotten thief," he cried. "I've known for a while. I just don't know whether to tell Aoko or not." He shook his head and gave a mirthless chuckle. "There is one thing that I want to know." He grabbed the lamp and shoved it near Kaito's face, which in turn exposed his face. Kaito's jaw dropped, Poker face saying ta-ta for now. "What do you want, Kuroba-kun?" he asked in a different male voice.

"Lupin-san!!" he cried.

"Expecting someone else?" Lupin-san said. He let go of the lamp and sat on the table. "You were the one who asked me to come to the precinct." He gave a glance at Kaito. "Kami-sama, you look like Kudou-kun, before he turned into a kid."

The magician-thief blinked. _Wait… how did know know that Kudou-kun is Edogawa-kun?_He gave him a questioning look.

He dismissed the look with a wave. "We're here for your challenge to me; those questions can wait till later." Kaito allowed a frown to lace his face. _Suspicious._ "What do you want to talk about?"

With a cocky grin, Kaito answered, "A competition."

"Competition."

"Yes. One of tricks. To be held tomorrow at…" Kaito told Lupin-san the place. And to finish it off, he made a small stack of papers appear on the desk with a snap of his fingers. The older thief took them and gave a quick glance over. He chuckled.

"Just like your old man," he said simply.

"HOW DID YOU KNOW MY FATHER?" Kaito cried. Lupin-san blinked before smiling faintly.

"That, Kaito-kun, is also for another day, when we have the time." He looked at his watch. "Since that is the battleground, I'll make sure that we'll have a wonderful time…" He was silent for two beats. Lupin-san leaned close to Kaito's face. "You can ask me all the questions you want after the competition," he whispered. Kaito's eyes widened. The older thief's eyes gave a sad glint before once again becoming unreadable. The expression that he now held reminded him of Oyaji's Poker Face, the same one that Kaito uses. _Did he know my father? He has the same 'face' as me. What is going on?_

"**He will get the shoes** **but has a darker aim."**

The annoying witch's word now rung in his ears again; he wondered if Lupin-san was here for more than the heist. Probably the woman he and 'Nemuri no Kogoro' were talking about had something to do with it. He didn't have to worry about that, yet.

"Okay, Ojisan." Kaito grinned. Lupin-san burst out laughing, the first, Kaito realized, genuine laugh he gave the entire time he was here.

His chuckling decreased, as he said, "Don't call me 'Ojisan'. It makes me feel old. Call me what you said before… or 'Lupin-kun'."

"Lupin-san it is," Kaito concluded. Lupin-san pouted. Hey, Kaito looked up to Lupin-san's grandfather. He pretty much respects the man sitting in front of him. Kaito didn't really wanted to call him '-kun'. He was older and more experienced than Kaito. Besides, they were still rivals.

"Hai!" The thief said, dejected. He rose from his seat on the table, gesturing Kaito to precede him. Kaito complied, noticing the papers he gave Lupin-san mysteriously vanished. Opening the door, Kaito was assaulted by the smoke. He felt something in his hand, as Lupin-san walked past him, muttering, "I'll see you tomorrow, then." The boy no longer could see his face.

He immediately placed that something over his face. It was his gas mask. Lupin-san was already halfway out the door. He threw something down and Kaito immediately heard a whir. The smoke was beginning to disappear.

"Jaa ne, Tottsan, Megure-keibu, Mouri-san! Oh, Takegi-keiji, I'm glad you're taking the first initiative," Lupin-san said in a female voice. He strolled, **not ran**, out the door, just as the smoke dissipated.

Kaito immediately removed his mask. He became aware that the 'Takegi' mask was on the floor, swelling, absorbing the smoke. When the smoke was fully absorbed, it exploded, shooting confetti all over the room, covering everyone with strings and pieces of paper.

"Kaito!" He saw Aoko leaving the safety of the desk to meet him; she was the only one not covered. "Are you alright?" He slowly nodded. The officer pile on the desk was once again slowly decreasing as every officer was getting off each other. Zenigata-keibu was mysteriously on the floor (He probably tripped on a chair, trying to find Lupin-san. (Kaito suppressed a chuckle.)). Satou-keiji and Takegi-keiji had long since nervously moved apart to help the other officers (Again, Kaito suppressed a chuckle.). Megure-keibu was slowly coming out of his coughing fit, as well as Mouri-san, who still had that shell-shocked expression. _And with good reason._Nakamori-keibu (one of the officers who were in the dog pile (Once again, Kaito was barely putting up a front with his suppressed chuckles.)) noticed the detective's expression and walked towards him. Aoko grabbed Kaito by the arm and dragged him there as well.

"Megure-keibu, Mouri-san, what's wrong?"

"That voice," muttered Mouri-san. "That was Ran's tomodachi, Kiyone's voice. Then…." He stared at the pudgy inspector, look of resigned realization on his face.

Megure-keibu nodded slowly. "Yes Mouri-kun. The Kiyone that was with you was actually Lupin in disguise. The person who shot and killed one of the thugs was Jigen." He shook his head in disbelief. "We knew that Jigen was the shooter because of the information about him that Zenigata-keibu gave us. We didn't know about Lupin being Kiyone-chan until we told Zenigata-keibu about this incident."

Mouri-san frowned somewhat. "What happened to that other one?"

"We interrogated him," The inspector blinked a bit. "He confessed, weeping and blubbering, about how 'Kiyone' beat them up, even going so far as to throw the suspects' knife at him."

"Naruhodo, that wrist wound," Mouri-san said, now deep in thought. Kaito understood his shock; he did witness the entire thing, after all.

Aoko leaned in her father's ear and asked, "What's happening?"

Nakamori-keibu whispered, "Yesterday afternoon, that high school girl and a little boy were attacked by two thugs. When it was all over, one of the thugs was dead, a gunshot to the back, the other had a stab wound on the wrist, the little boy was fine, and Kiyone-san had minor injuries. When Megure-keibu was going to interrogate her, she vanished without a trace. As the inspector said, we figured out the shooter was one of Lupin's nakama from Zenigata-keibu's info on him, Daisuke Jigen. When they told him about the thug—"

"I said that Kiyone could be Lupin in disguise." Kaito saw the thinner inspector halfway across from them, dusting himself off, with an obvious scowl. "I knew that sometimes when one of his friends was around, Lupin wasn't far behind." He became silent with a frown. He muttered something, the only thing Kaito was able to catch was "… this isn't like him at all. Why was he here? …."

Kaito hid a wide grin behind an impassive mask. _I contacted him through my pigeon to come here so we can meet unofficially. _How his bird managed to find Lupin-san's hideout, he wasn't too sure; it was the same bird that was used in the Kiyone incident. Something about his behavior bothered him, though. He looked at articles that shown him as something of a childish prankster with a mocking smile.

"**He will get the shoes but has a darker aim."**

Kaito closed his eyes for a second. _Is that so?_ He smirked.

"I have to go home," Mouri-san said suddenly. He rose from his chair.

"Will you be fine, Mouri-kun?" asked Zenigata-keibu.

The detective gave a confident grin. "Now that I know who 'L' is…" He gave a light punch into his hand, surprising everyone. "I'll bring him down!" He bowed to the cops, giving a slight frown in Aoko's and Kaito's direction. Then, he left the room… but not before patting Takegi-keiji on the back, winking at him. The ice glare daggers were once again felt, and the poor officer shrunk into himself.

"We need to go to, Otousan," said Aoko. With a determined look on her face, and a kiss to her father's cheek, she added, "Those thieves will be defeated by you, Otousan." He beamed and nodded.

"Yes you will, Nakamori-san!" Kaito echoed (For the fourth time, Kaito had to suppress another chuckle.). The high school kids walked past the Interpol inspector.

"So Kid was here, too?" he muttered in a low voice.

Kaito blinked in shock. Aoko grabbed his hand and they both rushed out the building.

"How the hell did he sense me being here?" he muttered. Another question that he can ask Lupin-san after their battle. This made the magician feel giddy with huge grin on his face.

"Why are you grinning Kaito?"

He gave a quick glance Aoko's way. He needed to burn some energy, after trying and nearly failing to suppress his chuckles.

He looked around to see that there was no one around, and grinned wider.

Flip! "Plaid, nice choice."

"KAITO! YOU...!" She took something out of her purse, and his laughing face was replaced by sheer horror and terror.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He ran like he was in a marathon, the goal: home and away from the stuffed, hellish creature of the sea.

"KAITO, GET BACK HERE!" said the vengeful girl with a malicious chuckle. "IT'S JUST A TOY FISH!"

* * *

A) Nakama, tomodachi (noun) - Both mean 'friend'. Nakama though is something akin to 'comrade' or 'work friend' and could also mean 'circle of friends'. The kinship-closeness is about the same in both words, but their main difference is distance. Tomodachi, you know almost everything about that person, and you would lay down your life for that person. Ran and Sonoko would be an example of Tomodachi. Nakama, you probably know the basics or next to nothing about that person but you would still lay down your life for that person. Lupin, Jigen, Fujiko and Goemon are examples of nakama.

B) Daijoubu (adjective) – safe; ok.

C) Oyaji (noun) – another term for 'father'

D) Jaa ne (expression) – See you!

E) Naruhodo (Expression) – I see.

F) Nemuri (Noun) - sleep

F) We will now dive in to the minds of the Great Sleeping Kogoro, and ... a woman, with familiar blond hair? Stay tuned!


	15. C15: Kogoro's Deduction Vermouth's Setup

"**Blah, blah, blah"**- English

"**Blah, blah, blah"**- stated language

"Blah, blah, blah"- Japanese (It's pretty much inferred that the language everyone is speaking here is Japanese)

There is a reason that I have these up now because different languages will be peppered here and there for the rest of this fanfic. I have some knowledge of Japanese and another language that won't appear until later.

* * *

Chapter 15: Kogoro's Deductions; Vermouth's Set Up

It was a long distance but he wasn't in the mood to take a taxi. It took about an hour to reach his detective agency. Saying hello to the lovely owner of the coffee shop that his agency sat on top of, he entered the door and then walked up a flight of stairs to it. He wasn't surprised that the four kids were here, especially the male duo. It was six now and as of this moment, he wanted to sit in his wonderful chair and watch nothing but Yoko Oniko reruns on his TV. Luckily his chair was unoccupied. Unluckily his TV was not.

Ran and the Osakan's girlfriend were watching TV, while the Osaka brat and the freeloading brat were playing Shogi. They stopped what they were doing and glanced his way when he entered.

"Otousan!" cried his daughter, Ran, sternly. "Where have you been?" The chastising had an added effect when she had her hands on her hips. It was the reminder that she was acting like his separated wife, Eri. He suppressed a poorly hidden groan… and heard the chuckling of the male duo. He glared their way and they rightfully went back to their game, but not without giving small grins. His eyes twitched. He noticed that the freeloading brat had more pieces than the Osakan brat.

Kogoro Mouri sat heavily down on his office chair. He needed a smoke … and a beer, plus he wasn't in the mood to answer any questions.

"Ran, can you get me a beer, please?" he muttered. Ran, stunned, nodded and went to the kitchen.

"Oi, occhan, are you alright?" asked the Osakan brat, Heiji-kun. The male duo had worried looks on their faces. He glanced at the freeloader brat, Conan-kun. Ever since the boy stared living with him, Kogoro ended up having a lot of cases piling up at his doorstep and solving them. Secretly, he thought the boy was a lucky charm; good or bad luck was debatable. During the cases, he mostly brought the brat along. But he was always annoyed by the kid butting into investigations, and saying stupid childish stuff... that somehow helps solves the case. He had to admit, the kid was smart, not that it made a difference in the fact that he was a freeloader.

With a sigh, he took out his wallet and cigarette pack, taking out a cigarette and placing them on the table. Then, like vultures, the freeloader and Osakan grabbed them.

"Oi!" Kogoro suddenly cried. He tried but failed to get his precious belongings back. He still wasn't in a full mood to get up from his chair. He frowned somewhat as the duo was checking every nook and cranny of his beloved wallet. _They better not steal my money or there'll be hell to pay!_

"Heiji!" cried the Osakan's girlfriend. "What are you doing?" She smacked him across the head. He gave a small growl, but continued until…

"Found it, K-Conan-kun!" Heiji-kun slowly dug into a section and took out some sort of black dot. Kogoro immediately rose from his beloved chair, curiosity overriding his usual laziness. He took a seat next to Hattori-kun and took mental note at the similar expression on the male duo's faces, dark looks that screamed 'fury and rage'.

"Ran-neechan, Kazuha-neechan, can you please check your pockets?" Conan-kun said in an unnaturally deep voice that had a degree of command in it. _What's wrong with these two?_ Then realization hit him, his eyes widening. The girls checked their pockets, and then shook their heads. Kogoro breathed a quiet sigh of relief. _Good! He didn't do that to them. This means…._

"What's going on, Conan-kun, Hattori-kun?" asked Ran as she gave Kogoro his beer. "You look as though something bad had happened.… Did you see…?" Both girls suppressed shudders. "Ghosts?"

"There's no such thing as ghosts!" The Osakan brat snapped, a little harsher than normal.

"No, Ran-neechan," said Conan-kun, who had found his child voice but still had that dark tone. "It's because—"

"You two saw 'L'."

The male duo whipped their heads in Kogoro's direction. Kogoro calmly opened his beer and lit his cigarette. "That man whom we met earlier was him."

"WHAT!!!" the girls cried. "You mean Lupin-san?"

He nodded. He picked up the black dot from Hattori-kun's hand and stared at it closely. This, the ex-police-officer-turned-detective thought, was a well made listening device. Possibly has a speaker in it, too. He was surprised that he was in his detective mode already. Maybe it was because of the circumstance, who knows. Glancing at it some more he noted that…

"It's dead." With that, he crushed it between his fingers. It was surprisingly fragile. "It's some sort of listening device." The detective duo's eyes were bulging even further.

"Ojisan," began Conan-kun slowly. "How did you know all this?"

Kogoro really didn't want to say anything. But he opened his mouth and now he has to tell them what happened. _It's time for the Great Detective Mouri hour!_ He tried to hide his inner grin and confidence. He outwardly sighed, giving the appearance of someone getting ready of stating his deductions. His mouth twitched at the male duo, which had their skeptical eyebrows raised.

"I went to the police station after learning about the ICPO inspector working there." He paused as he noticed the brat glaring at the Osakan, who smiled weakly back. "As it turns out the person was an old associate of Megure-keibu and I, Zenigata-keibu."

Ran's eyes brightened. "I remember, Otousan. Years ago, he used to work in the Tokyo district and both of your precincts sometimes worked together on some cases, along with Shin'ichi's dad. Shin'ichi and I met him a couple of times." Kogoro was vaguely aware of the stunned look on the brat's face and raised eyebrow of the Osakan turned the brat's way. "You said that he signed up for the ICPO because he was chasing an international criminal."

Kogoro nodded. "Lupin-san is that criminal." Gasps came from the girls; impressed smiles came from the boys. "That man's full name is Lupin the Third—."

"HE'S THAT GUY???" the Osakan's girlfriend cried; Ran looked just as shocked. Kogoro frowned. "Everyone at school always talk about him, almost as much as Kid!"

Ran nodded. "There's even a Lupin the Third fanclub!" She chuckled somewhat. "You should see the yelling battles on who is better between them and the Kid fanclub, with Sonoko leading the charge." Conan-kun's mouth twitched, while Heiji-kun grinned.

Kogoro coughed. The kids stared at him. "Sumimasen, Otousan," said Ran. "Continue."

"Lupin came in disguised as Takegi-keiji but Zenigata-keibu was able to find him… but he got away."

"Of course! He always uses tricks to get out of those situations, like Kid!" The girlfriend quieted from Kogoro's glare.

"As it also turned out, Kiyone-chan was Lupin-san in disguise." He glanced at the annoying male duo. He may not like the fact that they were **annoying**, and cocky, and belittling his greatness, but he has to admit, he may actually need to ask for their help for the party on Saturday. "You probably already figured that out." Heiji-kun nodded.

"What about the three with Lupin-san, Ojisan?" asked Conan-kun. Was it just him or is that freeloader quizzing him. …Nope, just his imagination. The kid ain't that smart.

Kogoro smiled. "They are wanted criminals and his nakama." The girls nodded in understanding.

"That makes sense, when Kiyone-chan didn't understand what we were talking about," said Ran.

"So Mouri-han, the person who helped Lupin-san and shot that thug was one of those three? Probably that gun guy… Jigen-san?" asked the girlfriend. He nodded.

"Demo, Otousan, how did Lupin-san took your items and slipped capsules in our pockets?" Kogoro's mouth twitched. He was stuck; even his greatness couldn't figure that out. He then heard sighs from the boys.

"Ran-neechan, it wasn't really a magic trick so much as it was just fast hands," Conan-kun remarked.

"Yeah. Since he's a' experienced thief, it was just simple pick pocketing and a degree of speed. He took Occhan's watch and tie when he walked past Lupin-san to our seats, my hat and wallet when he was hiding behind me and Conan-kun's watch and bowtie when he was up close ta him. When he stopped your kick and when he walked past Kazuha to hide behind me was when he slipped the capsul—" Heiji-kun's and Conan-kun's eyes opened in dawning. "Kazuha, where are those flowers?!" the Osakan cried.

A stunned Kazuha-chan answered, "We threw most of them away when we came back here."

"Where did you place the rest?" cried Conan-kun. It then clicked to Kogoro. _If those devices were on us then…_

"Ran, tell us!" Kogoro cried in alarm. Ran pointed to a flower pot on the bookshelf that held a small handful of flowers. The three rushed to the pot with Conan-kun jumping to grab it first. The kid scanned each flowers with Kogoro and Heiji-kun following.

"Nothing, Ojisan," the kid said. "He probably didn't want to involve Ran-neechan and Kazuha-neechan. It's only between him and the three of us."

Kogoro stared at the kid for a moment. He was going to comment on how the brat was involved but decided against it. He'll figure that out himself. Instead, he asked, "How did you meet him?" The male duo frowned slightly and looked away a little. A vein popped on his head. _Look, you brats, I had to talk so it's your turn._ Flinching from Kogoro's angry face, Heiji-kun coughed.

"He was watching us from somewhere when we were going to Hakase's place. We figured out about the devices in my wallet and his watch. Lupin-san then talked to us via Hakase's computer. He only stated that he just wanted to test us and that's it."

"I see." Kogoro nodded. He took the pot from the boy's hands and placed it back on the shelf. _I'm going against Kaitou Kid and Lupin the Third._ Kogoro sat in office chair carrying his beer and puffing on his cigarette. The kids ended up talking between themselves; the male duo leaving his office to go upstairs. Right now he didn't care. _This time, the Great Detective Kogoro Mouri will –_

"YOKO-CHAN!!!!!!" His favorite singer's televison show was on. He made sure that the TV was near him and the volume was high enough so he could see and hear Yoko Oniko in all her glory.

* * *

A woman sat in a café drinking coffee. Dressed in all black, including sunglasses, it completely contrasted with her long platinum blond hair. Smiling to herself, she was reading the newspaper. The police was in a panic because of an unknown thief and Kaitou Kid. She chuckled. Then her phone rang.

"**Hello?"** she answered in perfect English.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't an old friend." Her face paled. _It can't be! How did—?_

"**What are you doing here? How did you get this number? I thought you'd—"**

"**Died? I'm surprised **_**you**_** think that." **He chuckled, switching to English.** "Only **_**They**_** thought I died. You knew I survived… since you knew who I am… and was the one who sent **_**them**_** on me."**

The woman chuckled herself. **"So you came all this way from your self-imposed exile for what… revenge?"**

"**No, no, no. I don't have such a one track mind. I came to see if **_**she**_**'s alright."**

The woman smiled. **"Her? I see. Did you find her?"**

"**After learning about what happened to her sister, I had to rush here as fast as I could." **His voice turned glacial. **"**_**They**_**'re chasing her. And knowing you, you probably know where she is… and who she is being protected by. I'm quite interested in why you haven't killed them yet."**

"**I don't want to harm **_**Cool Guy**_**, my **_**Silver Bullet**_**."**

"**You don't say! So you know who he is, too." **She heard his voice behind her and quickly turned to see him. The man smiled as he closed his cellphone. He then said quietly, in her voice, **"**_**A secret makes a woman, woman**_**, right? You've always say that as your motto. Yet at the same time, **_**Secrets are the most beautiful and deadliest creatures in the world.**_**"** He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, **"That's how I got into this mess involving you, right?"**

She flinched and tried to hit him with her elbow. He dodged it and grabbed her arm. He gave an emotionless chuckle. "**I can't do much because of **_**that person**_**'s ****hounds running about. I will have to expose myself, yet I do wonder… will you tell **_**that person**_**?"**

"**Champagne…" **she breathed. She was never taken advantaged of like this. But she knew that she still had the upper hand. She quickly tried to grab her phone to call _that person_'s number, but found to her shock that her phone was already in his hands.

"**Trying to call **_**that person**_**, Vermouth?" **He closed her phone. **"There's no need."** He gave it back to her. **"You'll receive a text message from **_**that person**_** in a bit."** He let go of her arm and left, waving.

Her phone began to vibrate and she calmly flipped it open to see said text.

'Vermouth

Someone has hacked into all of our files and databases. Although everything is fine, you need to find the culprit and get rid of him….'

"I understand," she muttered. The boss usually told Vermouth first the mission before telling the other operatives, because she was the Boss's favorite. Also because of this, she had a great degree of free reign on how to go about it. She closed her phone and rose from her seat, paying for her coffee. There were very few people in the café and her and Champagne's conversation was low. If anyone saw, they would have that it was just an arguing couple.

She already knew who that person was. But she won't do anything yet. Vermouth wanted to see how Champagne will go about this herself before she took action. They were more or less a match in mind games, which was why he quickly also became _that person_'s favorite. And which was partially why she had to get rid of him.

"Champagne," she muttered as she took out 'L's' flyer from her purse. "Lupin…" She smiled.

* * *

A) Sumimasen - sorry

B) Demo -but

C) Flashbacks and midnight conversations between former members of the BO. Stay tuned!


	16. c16: La Persistance de la Mémoire I

Third time's the charm. It's the **Under 5 Sentences Summary **of Ch. 11-15. Huzzah!

C11- (POV: Heiji, Ai Haibara) Heiji and Conan reach Hakase's house, being greeted by the other Detective Boys. Once the duo, Haibara, and Hakase are alone, they began to search for the possible 'L' 's. Heiji and Conan find out about Lupin and Haibara begins to act strangely. Haibara shows the duo that they have listening devices on them. It ends with the kids bringing a raven to the room and Conan calling out the thief.

C12- (POV: Lupin, Haibara, Heiji) Conan asks Hakase to leave with the rest of the kids and it is learned that a game has began to be played on who can keep their cool the longest. Haibara leaves by the insistence of Lupin and then breaks down. Conan and Lupin both explain their observations of each other, while Heiji watches; Conan loses, badly. Lupin leaves on his end and the tantei duo leaves, to discuss plans.

C13- (POV: Inspector Zenigata, Kaito) Zenigata researches about Kaitou Kid concluding that there were two Kids in a span of years. Mouri rushes to the precinct to meet Zenigata dragging Takegi, as Megure, Satou, Kaito and Aoko enter. Switching POV, Kaito notes that Zenigata is acting strangely and Mouri finally meets Zenigata. Suddenly Zenigata reveals that Takegi is actually Lupin in disguise and it is proven to be true, to Mouri's shock and Kaito's giddiness.

C14- (POV: same as c13) Zenigatabecomes slightly concerned with Lupin's behavior, but decides to capture him again after the first failure; It also ends in failure. Kaito, who wants to meet the thief, tries to find him and ends up in a room by the thief. Kaito challenges Lupin to a trick competition at an unspecified place. Lupin leaves with Kaitohaving question for himself about Lupin. After the chaos subsides and the knowledge about the previous day's event (c4-5) is put to light, Mouri leaves determined and Aoko and Kaito leave as well.

C15- (POV: Kogoro Mouri, Vermouth) Kogoro makes it home and is questioned by the kids. He reveals that the people they met in c8-9 were the criminals Lupin the Third and co. and the inspector was an old associate. He learns of Heijiand Conan's involvement with Lupin as well (c11-12). At about the same time, a woman (Vermouth) receives a call from a supposed dead Black Organization member, named Champagne. After being graced by his presence personally, she wonders what the ex-member will do in the following days.

* * *

Chapter 16: La Persistance de la Mémoire I: Midnight Talks

**Ces événements ont lieu entre les heures de minuit et quatre heures ****Vendredi.**

"_Monsieur, que faites-vous? Arrêter!"_

"_Lâchez-moi! Je dois aller là-dedans!"_

"_Vous ne pouvez pas! Ce bâtiment est en feu! Vous vais mourir!"_

"_Mais quelqu'un est là-dedans! Je dois la sauver!"_

"_Je suis désolé, mais je dois vous arrêter!"_

"_Non! Non! Lâchez-moi! Lâchez-moi! __Marie! __MARIE!"_

_She stood behind her sister as two people walked up to them. She was scared, really. What did they want from Akemi-neechan? The stern woman stared at them with nothing more than contempt. They were doing fine for them, they had been training Nee-san vigorously; they had very little time to play together. She had been lonely these past couple of weeks, and was tired sometimes; doing all that complicated homework about …che…mistry (She didn't know how to pronounce that word too well.)Why were they here? Were they going to take Nee-san away again? No, she won't allow it._

_She stepped in front of her sister. Arms out stretched, she cried, "Please! Don't take my sister! She's tired and I haven't seen her for a while! Please!"_

"_Shiho-chan…" Nee-san gasped. The evil woman scoffed. She was about to walk up to her to smack her._

"_Quiet!" she growled coldly. Shiho eeped and squeezed her eyes tight waiting for the teary pain to come. "How dare—." Nothing happened._

_No pain? She opened her eyes to see the other person stopping the woman's hand with his own hand. The woman was about to scold him until she looked at him. She shuddered violently._

"_I'm sorry," she murmured. She lowered her hand and coughed. "I am not taking Akemi away, Shiho. In fact I am here to bring you a guardian." She indicated the man standing next to her. The man was old and wrinkly; he leaned on a wooden cane. He had grey hair and moustache. But his eyes…_

_They were kind. She didn't understand why the woman looked scared of him._

"_His codename is Champagne and one of our top operatives. He asked the Boss to be in charge of you two, and that person agreed." The evil woman sounded a little surprised at this. But she continued. "Be polite and don't give him any trouble!" Turning on her heels, she walked out the room; slamming the door. There was a moment of quiet before…_

"_Scary woman, isn't she?" Shiho noticed the old man smiling softly at them. She felt warm when he did that. She nodded in agreement._

"_I heard about you," said Nee-san in a hard voice. "You are a killer, and no-one knows who you really are!" She held Shiho tight and pulled her away from the old man._

"_You don't trust me?" Nee-san nodded quickly._

"_You're acting like you're nice to us but you're evil, as evil as that woman!" She held back a sob. Shiho stared at her usually strong sister._

"_Nee-san… I don't think he's mean…" She let go of her sister's grasp and walked towards the old man. "Ojii-sansaved me. Someone mean wouldn't do that."_

"_But he's still a liar."_

"_Nee-san…."_

"_If I reveal my true face, would you trust me then?"_

_Nee-san was stunned at those words and looked at the Grandpa in shock. With a smile, he walked shakily to the door and locked it. He then looked around the room as if searching for something._

"_There's nothing here," Shiho chirped. "They didn't add anything extra or I would have seen it. I've searched." Grandpa raised an eyebrow and chuckled. It sounded completely different from his voice. He sounded _younger_!_

"_Unfortunately," he began in that young voice, "I can't give you my real name, but…" He stood straighter and placed his cane to the side. The girls gasped. "My job is to protect you and care for you like a big brother, which includes and starts with, trust." With a big grin, he began to pull at his neck, peeling off the old man's face showing the girls his real face._

"_Ojii-san!" cried Shiho in glee. She was glad his kind eyes still stayed. Nee-san gave a small convinced smile his way. Yay! She trusts him, like Shiho does!_

_He shakes his head. "No, Akemi-chan, Shiho-chan, call me Onii-san or Nii-chan if you like."_

**À Minuit**

Ai awoke with a small growl in her stomach. No surprise, she had locked herself in her room for the rest of the day researching on the antidote on the apotoxin. She didn't want to think about the revelation that Onii-san was alive.

_All those times…_ She stopped that train of thought. He probably had his reasons. That and there was sounds coming from the ground floor. Fear struck her hard. The rational, yet irrational fear that _they_had come for her will always be present, even though she was safe. She rushed out the room in a controlled panic and stopped in front of the door to the living room. She heard other footsteps signaling that Hakase, the man that took her in and cared for her (she was still grateful to him) was by her side. The old absent-minded professor noticed her and nodded, holding a bat. She wondered how he got one. She then noticed a button on it. Oh, it's an invention. Although she knew it was useless against the intruder who probably held a gun, she did hope it was functioning. Hakase had a strange habit of inventing things that didn't work. They then rushed out the door.

The first thing that hit her was a delicious smell. Her stomach growled in agreement.

"Working on the computer for about eight hours straight with no meal in between is quite bad. You might get sick or worse." The voice actually came from a person who was sitting on a couch, flipping the TV channels. He was dressed in dark clothes and wore a baseball cap, covering his eyes.

"Who are you?" asked Hakase, his thumb hovering over the button. Ai, though, knew exactly who he was. She unconsciously relaxed somewhat.

"That's not going to work," the man said. "I took the time to look at that bat, Agasa-hakase and took out the mechanism that made it go…" He, without turning around, showed them a spring between his gloved fingers. "It's just a regular _metal_ bat. It will still hurt like hell, but by the time you start to swing it, I would be right behind you and probably knock you out with this stun watch I came across and improved upon." He raised his other gloved hand to show the spare stun watch. "It shoots up to 20 darts now!"

He lowered his hands and then lifted one up, pointing to the left of him. They followed where he was pointing and gasped. On the counter there was a candlelight dinner for two, nice and neatly arranged.

"It's for you two, especially you, Ai-chan. It's kind of cold, though; I made it about an hour ago, while you're asleep. When I realized that you weren't going to wake up, I purposely made some noise. Go on! Eat up! It ain't poisonous."

Hakase gave a worrying look at Ai. She said nothing as she walked to the counter and sat on the tall stool and gave onelong look at the plate. There was rice, pickled vegetables and chicken drenched in some sort of garlic sauce. Her stomach kept urging her to eat it. And so she did.

"Ai-kun?" asked the old man in shock. There was silence as another stool scraped the floor as he sat down and started to eat. Ai had to admit, the food was good, a little cold granted, but still good.

"I'm glad I've fed you two so… my first job here is done." The man flipped through the channels until coming across a channel with the news. He smirked. He said nothing more as he watched. Aicontinued eating, a little faster because she wanted to talk to him… and she was a little hungry. Hakasegently leaned to the side.

"Ai-kun, do you know who he is…?" he asked worriedly. She knew that he held his cell phone, and would quickly call Kudou-kun's number to warn him of trouble. She gently grabbed his hand and shook her head. He wasn't here to hurt them, probably just to talk. He nodded in understanding and they finished their meal in silence, afterwards taking their plates to the kitchen.

"Who are you and what do you want with us?" the professor asked carefully. He had every right to be cautious, Ai knew. But the man seemed to be taking his time in answering. He had stopped watching the news and started flipping through the channels again.

He sighed. "My former codename is Champagne and I'm here to see Sherry."

"NANI?" Hakasecried, face pale with shock. So was hers but for a different reason. The old man immediately reached for his phone to call Kudou-kun.

"Hakase! No!" Ai cried. But it was too late. A small sound was heard and the professor gasped in shock, collapsing on the floor, the familiar stun dart in the center of his forehead. He would be asleep for about thirty minutes. She turned to the man as he lowered his hand, a frown on his face. Giving her this frown, she said, "He will be out for about thirty minutes, maybe more."

A satisfied smile crept up followed with a chuckle. Turning off the TV, he threw something at her. She caught and looked at it; it was the spring for Hakase's bat. Looking up at him she realized he was fidgeting, not looking at her, as if in shame. Without thinking, she ran up to him and hugged him. Tears threaten to flow down her cheeks.

_But he lied to us! _A part of her mind cried._He abandoned Nee-san and I! He left us alone!_

"Why?" she mumbled through her sudden sobs. "After all this time, you came back?" She felt the tears flow but she didn't care. She squeezed his leg, hard. "You could have taken us with you! Then Nee-chan wouldn't have died!" She was yelling now. "Why? WHY ARE YOU HERE?" That last question echoed throughout the house. She refused to look at his face, she didn't know which would be worse, seeing him truly remorseful or showing her his usual smiling face just to cheer her up.

"Ai-chan." Why wasn't he using her real name? A hand fell on her head. She finally chose to look at his expression.

She didn't expect that his mouth stayed as a straight line or that his eyes were still hidden by the baseball cap. "At the time, I thought you'd be safer with Them. It's actually a lot more dangerous to be with me. Plus you know now they are like relentless dogs; you're 'valuable' to them. Do you think they would have let this go if they found out that I took you? I'm sure now that you know who I am; you can also see that my life is dangerous enough as it is.

A target for other ruthless bastards and…" In a move that surprised her, he went down on one knee and pulled her into his embrace. "The fear of losing you… it would have been just like that time.…"

Ai understood but she was still angry. "You have every reason to hate me; I deserve it. If you don't want to see 'Onii-chan' again, just say it and I'll be gone. At the time, I thought I was doing the right thing."

"And you did." The man looked at her as she stared at him straight in the eyes; she lifted his cap to see his face. He looked honestly surprised. "If Nee-chan was here she would have forgiven you. So would I and we wouldn't hate you." She gave her usually dreaded – deadpan - evil look (Kudou-kun called it that, she didn't _know_ why) and he gulped. "I'm still angry at you and I want some compensation. A nice Gucci bag would be nice." It was finished with the evil smile.

The man burst out laughing. He rose from his position and dusted himself off, chuckling. "Of course, of course." He then turned serious. "I would advise you not to go to the party, since I see that Hakase-san got an invite."

"He's friends with one of the invitees."

"But you've been pushed by the kids to go, ne?" A nod. "You do care about them a lot." Another nod. She would try to protect them from the dangers that might follow because of her past… her eyes widened as she gave the man a horrified look.

"So you realized? The party will become a nice little focal point for everything to converge. Be careful then." He threw something at her and she caught it. It was a jewelry box. "It's a gift. It'll be very useful for us all." She opened it to see a nice pair of ruby red earrings. The little girl was speechless. Not only was it a beautiful gift but it was from her Onii-san. She felt happy but suppressed it.

She looked up just in time to see Onii-san lifting the watch towards her. "To answer one of those questions, I told Hakase the truth because I want Bespectacled-san to keep his guard up. As I've said and you can tell him yourself later, the party will be a focal point. He is a fine protector, that Silver Bullet." He pressed the button and she felt a prick on her forehead. As she fell, darkness welcoming her, his voice rang out.

"I'll tell you everything when the darkness leads to light. Now get some sleep."

**À Une Heure Moins Le Quart Du Matin**

Bourbon noticed in mild surprise that the lights were suddenly out next door to the house. It didn't matter though as he had the information he needed. His theories were proven true, Sherry is a little girl as well as the mysterious child Edogawa-kun being Shin'ichi Kudou being a little boy. The apotoxin did what it was originally meant to do.

But Champagne…

Pure horror etched on his face. The operative thought dead was still alive. Essentially it was improbable that it could have happened, this person was killed execution style, or so he heard. He suspect that Champagne did some sort of illusion to probably escape.

Rumors said he was like that.

Quietly smiling, he stopped the tape and placed it in a small pile of other tapes, irreversible proof of Sherry. He decided to go to the library room in the Kudou house to have a small glass of a congratulatory glass of Bourbon. He had been staying in the house for about two months since his apartment was burned down. Edogawa-kun had given him the keys to "Shin'ichi-niichan"'s house to stay for a while as he looked for a new apartment. He really did like that apartment, though. Reaching his destination, with a small glass of ice already in his hand, he poured his cup. Navigating to a couch in the living room, he sat to enjoy the darkness and the taste, occasionally glancing out the window to the sliver of light coming from the waning moon. He wondered how the Kid heist will go for Saturday.

"Will justice prevail or will chaos resume?" he murmured to himself, about to take a sip.

"I wonder personally myself."

Bourbon's eyes widened but he couldn't turn his head to the source of the sound, reason being that there was a gun neatly pressed to the back of his head. He also recognized the voice. _How did he come here so fast?_

"Champagne." He said quietly. He felt a gloved hand snatch his glass.

"You must be the recent member, Bourbon," he said in false cheeriness. "I hope you had fun listening in to our conversations. Did you know eavesdropping is a big no-no?" He heard footsteps as Champagne walked around the couch and sat next to him, his gun never once leaving Bourbon's head. It had instead moved to under his chin. This person was using the shadows well, combined with the dark clothes he knew the ex-member was wearing; he was essentially invisible, save for the soft glow of the glass/ice cubes in his hand and his dully shinning teeth.

Leaning back, Champagne drank the glass whole. "That's good!" he cried in glee. Bourbon, during that small exchange began to formulate a counter plan, mostly involving moving the gun away from him and alerting the authorities, plus some of the members. He realized that the hand holding the gun was surprisingly lax. He began to move his hand slowly to shadowy figure's hand.

"Subaru Okiya…" the man said slowly, grin never leaving the exposed lips. "You were going to take my gun, right?" The pink haired man froze. "Go ahead! Break my fingers in the process!"

A debate raged. _He's bluffing! _cried one side. _He is telling the truth!_ exclaimed the other. Right now he wasn't so sure. There were too many factors that were not helping the decision, starting with Champagne sounding unnaturally jovial and his hidden and controlled movements. "What is your game?"

"Game?" the man shrugged. "No game, well not with you guys. Vermouth likes to play games. I usually get right to the point." The mask-like grin edged wider. "Who am I kidding? I like to play games too, but usually there's a point. You're distracting yourself with your choice, Okiya-san. To take or not to take the gun, that is the question. You have 10 seconds, before I make the decision for you."

Not enough time! He had to choose! With a frown, he grabbed the gun… and it easily slipped from Champagne's fingers into his.

_Nani?_

Without saying anything, the figure took out a cigarette, and lit it with a lighter. It closed with a hard snap.

Then it happened.

A hissing sound was heard. Bourbon gave a sharp gasp before almost throwing the gun as he felt some sort of gas hit his face. At least he tried to. He couldn't move his fingers holding the gun nor his entire body. He heard Champagne sigh.

"You shouldn't have gasped, then the paralysis gas would have taken longer." Without another word, he took back the gun. "This will last for about thirty minutes, maybe less. Whether you have chosen or not, I still would have gassed you." After placing the gun in the back of his pants, he rose and disappeared from Bourbon's field of vision.

How could he let himself be tricked like this? Completely unable to command his body to move, he instead tried to shout at Champagne. It failed; he couldn't make a sound beyond a pathetic whimper.

It was most likely ten minutes into this that Champagne returned, not before turning on a few lamps in the room, giving the place a much more illuminated presence. It also revealed Champagne and concluded a few things in Bourbon's mind. The person himself looked muscular but a little thin; the black clothes he wore were form-fitting but most likely flexible; he could only see the lower part of his face, his mouth and he was still wearing that plastic grin. Bourbon also saw that this person held a six shooter and placed in four bullets, humming all the while.

"Space, fake, real, space, fake, real. Let's play another game, my friend. It's called 'Russian Roulette'. Whoever gets the real bullet to the head, loses." Bourbon's eyes widened a tiny fraction. _Is he mad? He will risk his life to destroy us?_

"If you are going to create a plan that involves putting others on the line, you need to make sure you put yourself out there, too. It doesn't work if you don't do so, and failure is more likely. At the same time, you should have a plan that whether success or failure, you win."

He closed the circular bullet holder and spun it. The loud noise from it reminded Bourbon of a spinner wheel, its pointer heading towards its random target. "I did die, you know. But now I've returned, except with just an empty gun. I'm searching for some certain bullets that are of the right materials to take you down. I know some of your ins and outs, but that's not enough.

"This gun is real and unrigged. I'll start." The holder was slowing down as he placed it to his temple and pulled the trigger.

_CLICK!_

_He got a space._

"Humph." He spun it again.

Bourbon had to move! He felt his left finger was twitching; that was a start. And he could move his mouth.

"Cham… pagne…!" The figure turned slightly in his direction, cocking his head to the side.

"Oh! It's wearing off a bit. You must have been really persistent."

"You…'re mad!" The figure pouted.

"You did all that just to say something that I already know," he said thinly. The bi-speckled man felt something vibrating in his pocket.

Champagne strolled to him and dug around in Subaru's pocket, fishing out the ringing cellphone. He spent only a few seconds on staring at the caller ID, before opening it.

"Moshi, Moshi," the figure said in the paralyzed man's voice.

Short pause. "Gin."

Pause. "_That person_ sent us…. Hold on." With a few button presses, he found what he was looking for. "I apologize. I was too busy absorbed in one of my books."

The real Bourbon saw his hands becoming normal and he still tried to talk.

"GIN." He may not like to ask for help from the other members but he had no other choice. The man looked his way. Without a second thought, he aimed the gun at Bourbon's head.

"I see, Gin. Then, I'll be right on it. Whoever hacked into our systems shall be eliminated." Champagne suddenly smiled, waltzing towards Bourbon, the gun now just 1 cm from his head.

Something cold settled in the bi-speckled man's stomach. He knew what the ex-operative was going to do and there was nothing he could do about it. He once again gave a whimper, weaker than before.

"By the way, Gin," the person said, leaning forward a bit to show that smiling mask in Bourbon's face. "Do you like Champagne?"

He pulled the trigger.

And everything went black.

**A Deux Heures Et Demie Du Matin**

"_I think there is a relationship between that thief and the scientist Nee-chan, Kudou." _

"_What makes you say that, Hattori?"_

"_The way she reacted when she heard that guy's voice and saw his face on the computer. There's a connection."_

"_!"_

"_Ya were too busy staring holes into the TV to really notice anything. That's why I was looking at his body language and his reactions in that duel."_

"_What do you think?"_

Conan's eyes snapped open. With a frown, he glared at the cause of his recent bout of insomnia.

_Why the hell am I sleeping with him again?_

The 'him' in question gave a loud train-engine-snore to answer the boy's question. Toyoma-chan was lucky. Ran had insisted that she and the other girl share Ran's room… while the boys shared the living room floor with Mouri-san. Result: Conan being unable to sleep a wink while Hattori… wait.

He looked over the middle aged man to look at his detective partner. A lovely vein made its presence known on the boy's head. The Osakan had earplugs in his ears and a contented smile on his lips. It took all of the child's self control not to throw a pillow at him.

But _that_reason was not just Occhan'ssnoring. He needed a QUIET place to think and the only place to do so was downstairs in the office. A secretsneak, key fishing, and a quiet tip-toeing later had the faux-child in the office staring at one of the windows with its blinds open, revealing the sliver of the waning moon.

Quietly sitting on the chair behind the desk, Conan just stared… and sighed.

He could not believe he had let himself be tricked by that **THIEF**to lose that match. Thinking back on it now with the new information that Occhan told them, it was most likely that Lupin-san had to end it early to visit the police station. But why did he need to go there?

Then there was his behavior at the station. A lot more coaxing from the then-drunken man revealed this.

"'To find who I have lost and to kill who I have found.'" Conan quietly recited. That little phrase was the key and it helped explained that half second of shock Lupin-san exhibited when Conan told the thief his own suspicions on his presence in Beika.

And how does Haibara fit into this picture? AT ALL? The thief was looking for her adult form. The fact that he somehow found out about Conan really being Shin'ichi could extend itself to her. Does she fall under that statement? If so, then who is the other person Lupin-san is interested in?

Was Lupin-san part of the Organization? He came to the luncheon dressed in black and he was looking for Haibara, but it did not mean he was part of it. But you could never tell. This was more because of his paranoia than logical thinking.

Conan began to pinch his nose. He was gaining a headache. Perfect.

But overall…

The thief was good. Really good. In a sense, he was just like Kid. Then again, their styles were based upon the original Arsene Lupin. Conan was actually looking forward to the mental challenge these two thieves would bring to the party. To say that they have the advantage would have been an understatement, as Hattori expected. The teen-turned-child grinned despite the growing headache. Hattori and he had just thought of a plan to counter this handicap.

But again…

That growing uneasiness once again madeits presence known. Something bad will happen. Something that will probably involve everyone. He frowned. If he figures out Lupin-san'smessage then maybe Conan can take the necessary steps to protect everyone. But he was still missing pieces.

Then his phones vibrated. He honestly didn't know why he took them with him, it was a just in case.

Looking at his Conan phone first shown it was a text from Haibara herself. It just read:

'Need to speak to you later today.

-Haibara'

That was short and to the point. Okay….

Then staring at his Shin'ichi phone, it was a text from an unregistered number. This was strange. Very few people knew of this phone's existence; it was also unregistered. Conan's eyes thinned as he cautiously opened the mail. His eyes widened like saucers and his hands shook, nearly dropping the phone.

'The party is going to be a focal point for everything to converge

dear, Conan Edogawa. The crows will gather, blackening the sky, we all will be in danger.

What will you do, Silver Bullet?

-C'

**A Trois Heures et Quart du Matin**

They sat around the table, wary glances at each othersfaces. Rising to their feet, the three tensed.

I must win this, they thought individually. The prize sat quietly and innocently in the middle of the table, waiting to be used, not caring that it is the cause of this rivalry.

"Alright," one of the men said. "This is the last bout between us. Whoever wins will get the remote. Got it?"

The second man grunted, dragging on his cigarette, lifting his fedora hat higher to expose the determined eyes underneath. The third man gave one sharp nod, eyes snapping open, with the same amount of determination. The speaker himself grinned, hands at his side, shaking them slightly.

"Ready?" cried the first man, as he lifted his arm. The others did as well.

"ROCK! FOR MY DETECTIVE SHOWS!"

"PAPER! FOR MY WESTERNS!" screamed the fedora man.

"SCISSORS! FOR MY SAMURAI MOVIES!" cried the third man. Their arms trust out with speed unimaginable.

This was it! The winner will be…

BAM! BAM! BAM!

What… was… that? The three men were in shock as they fell to the floor. Three round things rolled in front of them. Focusing on these turned out to be red rubber balls. Footsteps came closer as the 'winner' grabbed the remote and plopped on the couch. Legs crossed, that person flipped the channel, to… to… that dreaded…

"OH! _One Life to Live_! In English!" squealed Fujiko. "I missed this episode earlier today. Glad they show late night runs."

"What the FUCK?" growled Jigen as he sat up, a red circular mark neatly shown on the left side of his cheek. "We are not watching that soap opera crap!"

Goemon nodded in agreement, same mark on his forehead.

"Fujiko-chan!" whined Lupin, same mark on the right side. "Why'd you do that? I was going to win!"

"Hell no you weren't!" Jigen grunted. "I was going to win!"

"Fujiko, may I ask what took you?" Goemon interjected. "And I was going to defeat you all."

"My date took longer than I thought. I called to let you know but no one was home." She gave a long look to Lupin. "I thought you said you would be here for the rest of the day."

"Something else came up," the thief said dismissively. "I'm glad you're here. I just came up with something that we could do for tonight. It was on the fly and I thought that it would be really interesting." He told them his plan.

"Good idea," the gunman smirked. "What do we need to do?"

"Nothing actually." Lupin plopped next to Fujiko and snatched the remote from her hand. "All you have to do is show up at the designated place at 5 later today." His finger hovered over the channel button. With a frown, he placed the plastic thing back on the table. "I've already made the necessary arrangements."

"Lupin!" Fujiko squeeled and glomped him. "One step closer to the diamonds! Oh!" She stared at him straight in the eyes. "What about that girl you were looking for?"

"I found her Fujiko," he said, exasperated. "She won't ruin the heist, if that's what you were thinking!"

"Lupin!" she whined. Her mouth closed with a click when she stared at the thief.

"SHE WON'T RUIN THE HEIST," Lupin said quietly with a flat smile, eyes unreadable except with a hint of anger. "If you don't believe me then it's better if you don't participate at all. Got it?"

The woman nodded dumbly while the swordsman and gunman stared at their leader in mild shock. Fujiko rose and stretched a bit pretending the last few seconds didn't happen. "I'm going to bed." She rushed to one of the three bedrooms the apartment had.

A moment passed until Jigen said, "Where were you for the past few hours in the afternoon?"

A long exhale and Lupin sat back on the couch, arm over his eyes. He rummaged through his left-side red jacket pocket and showed it. The other two looked over it for a few seconds.

"Kid asked you for an audience in the police station," Goemonmurmured. "Then what happened after?"

"A competition of who can pull the best tricks and pranks," he answered without looking at them. "He didn't give me the specific time… but I still agreed. I'm interested in what he has in store for me." Rummaging inside his jacket produced a small stack of papers. Jigen took it and skimmed.

"These are…!" Raising an eyebrow, he looked at the man. Personally, he filed the disheveled man's appearance for later musing. "Then the place is…"

"Yep."

"Then you will be out for the rest of today, right Lupin?"

"Yeah, Goemon. I'm going to be there early if I want to start." Lifting his arm to expose an eye, he added. "What about you two?"

"Find some new bars to frequent."

"Wander around for a bit. I noticed a new shop to buy some more clothes for myself."

Jigen and Lupin stared at the samurai for a long moment. Then they laughed. Jigen noticed that Lupin's laugh sounded unnaturally forced and flat. Another thing to file for later about the guy's strange behavior; he will get to the bottom of this.

"I'm sleeping on the couch this time." Lupin said plainly. He waved his arm dismissively. "Good night." The two nodded and went to the other unoccupied rooms.

Only two minutes passed until he took the remote and turned off the TV reclaiming his previous position. Another two passed as he gave a dead chuckle. A minute and then he gave a choked sob and half a minute he murmured a thank you; all this while Jigen and Goemon watched quietly.

**A Quatre Heures ****Moins Le Quart Du Matin**

This couldn't be right!

How can my predictions be wrong so fast?

Lucifer had told me what will happen during the heist. The wolf will win over the dove but has a darker aim, to destroy a shape shifting crow.

Everything has changed drastically. The wolf, the dove and the raven will be in danger! The crows will destroy them all! All because of a shifty fox, a white colored raven, and a bloody gem. And the poor wolf cannot do anything as the past repeats itself.

How had the future so set in stone changed in a matter of three hours!

I must investigate this! Even if it takes all night, I will find out!

* * *

Notes:

A. A reviewer liked the darker portrayal I have for some of these characters. Me too. Everyone should note that the Lupin characters were originally a lot darker back then than they were now! And that we really don't know a thing about them. I like how this gives a lot of leeway for many writers using them to portray them, as long as their central personalities remain intact, of course!

B. Please review my French to see if it's correct, if you can. There is a reason I did this and it will be revealed later.

C. I'm sorry it took this long. My interest for this story waxed and waned throughout the year of 2010, as well a college interfering. I'm back for now. This chapter wasn't written in my notebook and this usually takes a lot longer to complete then what was already written down. I hope this chapterpleases you. Please critique.

D. Next up: Today is the fabled competition and Kaito couldn't be happier. But what's this, the introduction of another familiar blond and a mysterious new teacher! It's the start of an arc called the Playday next time on Conan vs. Kid vs. Lupin!


	17. C17: The Playday I

**Ladies and Gentleman: This is a public service announcement. **

**Please do not be alarmed. This is my attempt at humor and comedy. 9 times out of 10 this may fail. I am not really good at humor so please be advised.**

**Thank you. Now back to our regularly scheduled fanfic.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own, please do not sue.**

Note: "Speech in Japanese", **"Speech in English".** Just a reminder!

* * *

Chapter 17: The Playday I: Substitute Teacher

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Taptaptaptaptaptap!

"Kaito."

Taptaptaptaptaptaptaptap!

"Kaito!"

_Grin!_ "Hmmhmhmhmmmhmmmm!"

_SLAM!_ "KAITO!" Somewhat startled by the hand in front of his desk, he risked a glance from the window at the one girl with those infamous lungs.

"Hai?"

"I've been calling you for like forever! You're scaring everyone with that look of yours. Why are you so happy?"

Blinking, Kaito looked around to see that, no surprise, everyone was keeping a wiiiide distance from him. He honestly didn't know why they were staring at him like some sort of fff- finny things out to get them. They DO have the tendency to do it, he can attest to that (Suppresses a shudder). But…

He was giddy; hell, he was beyond giddy. A glee he usually gets when using his glider was bubbling inside him. He guessed it was the reason why he was tapping his toes and humming quite loudly. But he did have a reason. Well, two really.

NO HAKUBA! The half-Brit jackass will not be darkening this classroom. He felt like jumping and crying for joy.

"Well?"

The grinning was being kept under control. And he noticed that some of his classmates were waiting with bated breath. Aaand he lastly stared at his childhood friend that was glaring at him.

"Nothing, Aoko. Nothing at all."

Flip! "Ooh, black and lacy! Me likey!"

"BAKAITO!"

Mop in hand, The Chase begins again! They were waiting for this; it was the usual but still just as entertaining. Kaito surely did not want to disappoint his audience. Aoko, with her trusty mop, swung like a lumberjack, trying to hit the ever-elusive Kaito. He, with an acrobatic finesse, jumped from desk to desk and, with a magician's flair, from ceiling to wall.

The door of the now filling classroom (It was almost the start of first period) slid open. When Kaito, in midair, noticed who it was, he missed a desk and fell on his ass, barely dodging the dreaded mop. Aoko frowned at Kaito's startled look and smiled at the reason.

"H-Hakuba!" squeaked the magician. Suguru Hakuba in turn gave a cool smile the boy's way before giving a genuine smile at Aoko. She bowed back.

"I apologize for coming back early, Kuroba-kun, but hearing about how a normal wealthy man's party will become a battlefield between Kid, a mysterious new thief and detectives, I just had to come back from England to watch." His smile turned mocking as he took out a card. "It is strange that my invitation was lost in the mail. Yamada-san was gracious enough to give my father a second to give to me. Would you happen to know anything about it?" His eyes screamed, 'I know you tampered with my mail somehow, Kuroba!'

Kaito's left eye was twitching, violently_. Shit, he is the last person I needed to be here. AT ALL!_ Breathing deeply, quietly and slowly the magician managed to calm down the twitching and smoothed his face into a mild frown. He allowed a less-mild glare to the Brit, who ignored it with civility as he claimed his seat. Kaito knew the blond believed that he was Kaitou Kid (which was true) yet he could never prove it beyond a reasonable doubt (which Kaito made sure it was the case). Rising to his feet, he dusted himself off. The -Great - Stick - In - The -Ass will not deter him from the now only reason why he was so giddy.

"Kaito! Are you alright?" Aoko asked, worriedly. With a sigh, he gave a lopsided grin to Aoko.

Flip! "Me still likey!"

"BAKAITO!"

* * *

Hakuba silently watched as Kuroba-kun did his usual flip-and-chase with Nakamouri-chan. Personally and guiltily, he cherished the shell-shocked expression on the prankster's face. If he was Kaitou Kid (and Hakuba knew he was) then the feeling was understandable. He already had to deal with three other detectives, plus another thief, who may be better than Kid.

The heist was blown all over the Japanese newspapers. How he found out about it? He luckily had his servants bring him the latest. When learnt, he had taken the next flight to Tokyo, having arrived just yesterday evening. The first thing he had done was visit the Ekoda station to talk to Nakamouri-keibu about letting him become involved in the heist and to prove that he was invited. (He was positively sure that Kuroba-kun tampered with his mail.) He was quite surprised to learn that the inspector was not in at all; as well as most of his task force. The remainder told the blond that he was working under another inspector in the Beika station, an inspector from Interpol.

Interesting.

Apparently, this inspector was after the mysterious `L'. And the other officers were strangely tight-lipped about the identity of both the Interpol inspector and that thief.

More intriguing.

In the end, right after school, he would have to present himself to this inspector, which means most likely encountering Mouri-san, Hattori-kun and Conan-kun. Officially speaking, he had met Conan-kun more times than the two older men, Mouri-san once and barely at that. (He remembered that annoyance who disguised himself as said older man during that detective gathering involving that annoyance. A part of him had wondered how Conan-kun had known that the man was Kid.) He also didn't want to meet Hattori-kun. They had not gotten off on the right foot; their personalities just clashing, even causing them to be wrong at that fake Detective Koushin.

He personally thought about that bi-speckled boy and how interesting he was involving Kid heists. _What does he have that I do not have?_ A question for later.

Coming out of his own musings, the half- Britton noticed something was wrong. The school bell indicating the start of first period had wrung about five minutes seven seconds ago (he had looked at his beloved old, very accurate watch), yet there was no teacher.

Where could she be?

He wasn't the only one thinking the same thing as other students voiced the same thoughts. Even the `Mop and Chase' had slowed a little as the two participants held small frowns. He heard chuckling from the only person who had not spoken yet.

"Is there something interesting you are laughing about, Koizumi-san?"

The dangerously mysterious woman chuckled a bit before saying, strangely looking and sounding a bit tired, "So it starts." It was quite loud and Hakuba suspect she was talking to someone else. Saying nothing more, she turned her attention to the classroom door.

It slid open to reveal a young man in a dark grey suit reading in his hand a book. At about the same time, Kuroba-kun was standing on the ceiling grinning, sticking out his tongue. Nakamouri-chan with a grunt instead of swinging her weapon, threw it like a javelin with all of her strength.

At this point it was as if time slowed down.

The moment she let go, her eyes widened in horror. The prankster magician with his manic grin quickly dodged the wooden projectile, but noticing the horrified girl turned behind himself. It was hard to know his expression since his face was away from Hakuba but he guessed it was in the same horror as his friend's. Some of the students turned away from the oncoming carnage, while others stood rooted on the spot, Hakuba included.

"SIR!"

The Britton could only give a feeble warning, as the mop came just a few meters away. The man looked up from his literature to blink, turn to the blonde's shout, and then glanced at the missile, precious seconds he wasted.

SLAM!

The blond opened his eyes (when did he closed them?), expecting to see the man's body slammed into the wall, out cold with most likely a concussion. What he did not expect was the mop's handle in betted in the wall and the man's head just approximately a few centimeters to its left. His expression was a mixture of surprise and amusement, emotions that really should not belong to a man who was a few second away from being out of commission. What also bothered him was that dodge.

"Did you see that?"

"That guy just moved his head!"

"Cool! I wish I can do something like that!"

It was unfortunate that he didn't see this and he cursed himself for that but…

The man said nothing as he pulled the mop from the wall. He gave a soft whistle at the indent in the wall behind him and quietly gave a glance at the perpetrators. Once again those expressions should not be on a man who was close to death. His black rimmed square glasses shined mysteriously its own.

And Hakuba had the distinct impression that Kuroba-kun and Nakamouri-chan will not like what this man might have in store for them and that the man was probably more than he seemed.

* * *

Well, shit.

Because of their usual banter, a person nearly died. They were so screwed. Kaito was impressed with that man's dodge. It looked like it was more on instinct than adrenaline. He idly wondered if the man did some sort of martial art or gymnastics or something. A quick glance told the magician that the Brit detective was thinking the same thing. And showing a sense of pity.

Great, just what he needed.

The man, who looked no older than his mid-20's, and had short brown hair, walked slowly to the duo, mop in hand. Kaito had the grace of placing himself next to Aoko, with his head bowed and face serious. It wouldn't make due to look like he had enjoyed nearly killing the teacher. The man stopped two steps before them, and then twirled the mop. Confused, the magician and Aoko glanced at the unusual display. Still saying nothing, he pointed to the mop. Understanding, Aoko murmured, "We have another mop at that corner." She quietly retrieved said item and gave it to him. He then twirled the other.

Kaito did not know where that man was going with this. He can usually read people, but this guy was like reading a brick wall. The classmates around him began to move away. And the twirling mops began to gain speed.

"Um, sir? Listen we're -"

"Don't move."

About everyone in the room shuddered with that emotionless voice and the duo did as they were told.

"You think that it's funny to throw these things around when someone can get hurt?" His voice didn't change at all as his shining glasses and blank face did nothing to show any other emotion, not even the expected anger. And the mops were gaining more speed. Kaito blinked. He wouldn't!

The mops now looking like double helicopter propellers (Kaito can see the breeze of the papers on some of the desks), the man gave a distinctive _**grin**_, catching the magician (and detective if that small gasp was anything to go by) off guard. In a two second time frame, he abruptly stopped spinning and began to bring them down on their heads.

Then. Nothing.

The magician opened his eyes (they closed reflexively) to give a slight twitch. The mop handles were a mere few centimeters from the dead center of their foreheads. Aoko was shaking like a leaf. She only gave a feeble "Sir." before the man did another gesture in two seconds, letting go of the mop handles, turning his hands so the thumbs faced downwards therefore grabbing the handles, twisting the mops so that the mop hairs faced the duo and shoved them in both of their faces, mildly hard.

"AAAcccck!" "GaaaaaaHHHH!"

_Oh God! These smell so bad! I think these were used yesterday and weren't cleaned properly!_

Kaito never felt so humiliated in all his life. The coughing and hacking sound he and Aoko made did nothing to stop the smell from entering their noses and mouths. He can also hear the snickering from some of his classmates. He zoned in on one particular one.

Was the Brit, laughing at him?

Oh, he will pay! Snickering at his expense! Pink hair will do the trick!

After an eternity, the mops were removed. It didn't take long for Kaito and Aoko to run to their respective desks, gasping and clutching the desk edges like their lives depended on it. After a minute, it took a few seconds for the magician to see a small folded floral pattern cloth on the table, plus a small bottle of mouthwash. Without thinking, he immediately grabbed the cloth and rubbed it all over his face. Then he grabbed the bottle and drank it, swirled it in his mouth and spat it out… in a conveniently placed trash bin next to his desk. He blinked dumbly at it.

"I see you took advantage of my generosity." The teen stared at the man, who gave a small smile as he took the trash bin (he had another most likely from Aoko's desk). "Now then I hope you learned your lessons."

"Hai!"

"Good." The man suddenly had no bins in his hands, as well as the fact that the cloth and the empty bottles were gone. The students stared. Kaito stared. Hakuba stared.

"Where did those items go?"

"Did Kuroba-kun do that?"

"Don't think so. Those things were there before with no explanation."

"You don't think…"

The murmurings gave a pretty good point. One that bothered Kaito the most was the grin. He recognized immediately what it reminded him of; and glanced at the teacher in wonder.

The man clapped his hands. "Since that incident has been cleared up," he said as he walked to the front of the room. "It's time to start this class." Frowning, he glanced at the desk and took the only item he was carrying, a slightly thick book. "This is English, right?" Some of the kids nodded.

"Good I'm in the right place!" With a high- watt grin, he sat the book down and took his place in front of the chalkboard.

"Excuse me sir, but why are you here?" asked Hakuba. "What happened to our teacher?"

"Funny thing." With a long suffering sigh, he continued, "The poor thing was on a verge of a severe breakdown, I honestly don't know why-" He didn't notice, or pretended not to, it was most likely the latter, the eyes of the students stared accusingly at a certain, wild haired magician, who responded by returning a scandalous look at the kids and an angelic smile. "-So someone had given her tickets to a plane ride to one of those famous Hokkaido hot spring resorts. It was such last minute that they had no one planned to take her place, she disappeared so fast." He shrugged. "So I took the challenge. They did warn me about a few things. I paid them no heed."

He spread his arms wide, chalk in hand. **"I will be your substitute teacher today~!"** Hakuba blinked. The man's English was flawless to his surprise. Not many Japanese English teacher can speak the language without adding their accent. The Substitute turned to write on the board. After turning back around, showing the written kanji, there became another reason to stare.

His name, which in Kaito's most humble opinion, looked so unnatural it wasn't even funny, was neatly arranged as if he looked to be a perfectionist. He had also taken the time to write out the name in the English letters.

Sasuke Ookami.

"As I've said, I will be you substitute English teacher for today. My name's Sasuke Ookami. Please treat me well." He bowed a little afterward with a distinct flourish. The students themselves bowed back. Ookami-sensei then immediately took out a piece of paper. After a few seconds of jotting down things, he looked pleased at what he wrote. Before he opened his mouth, a student asked.

"Ookami-sensei, are you a magician by any chance?"

The man _**grinned**_ again and said, "I dabbled here and there. I'm not as good as some other magicians."

"You think you're better that Kaitou Kid?" This question surprisingly enough came from Aoko.

"What do you mean better?" Kaito asked in horror. "No one's better than Kid!"

"Yes, coming from his biggest fan, hmmm, Kuroba-kun?" The Brit looked unnaturally smug there.

"Biggest fan?" The teacher raised an eyebrow, clearly amused with the banter.

"Hakuba-kun, you better not be accusing Kaito of being Kid again!" Aoko warned. "Because it's not true."

"Yes, of course, Nakamouri-chan, I apologize." With a smirk, Hakuba added, "He wouldn't do something so foolish as to get in trouble and get caught for a mundane thing like hurting a teacher, would he, Kuroba-kun?"

Ohhh, this Brit is going down! Pink hair dye is too good for him. Fuming and planning a satisfying vengeance against the blond inwardly, Kaito instead gave a slightly strained smile.

"Interesting," the teacher said, slicing the brewing cold war between Hakuba and Kaito right down the middle with his still familiar sounding steely voice. He pointed a finger at Aoko, Hakuba and Kaito.

"The Kid Task Force inspector's daughter, the famous British detective, and the budding son of a famous magician, correct?" Three confused nods later, he continued, "I make it my mission to learn about the people whom I'll work with, or in this case, teach." He chuckled as the detective instinctively flinched, as if it reminded him of a certain moonlight magician thief as he mocked all who try to catch him with his cocky laugh. Once again, Hakuba blinked. Why was he thinking about that thief whenever the teacher did or said something? Unless…. No, that can't be it.

"You're the infamous Kaito Kuroba I've heard so much about!" He sounded too cheery in Hakuba's opinion. "Can you show me a trick? I was going to do the attendance but seeing as everyone is already here…"

"I don't think that's a good idea, Sensei," objected Aoko.

"Really! I don't think he would do that much damage at all."

Hakuba saw the dangerous glint in the magician's eyes. Oh no! He wouldn't!

With a shark tooth grin, Kaito simply said, "I aim to please, Sensei." Ten doves flew out his sleeves as they began to circle around the teacher, as well as three extra hovering above Hakuba. The doves burst into purple smoke. No one except Akako noticed the shiny glasses on the teacher and his smirk as he was covered. But Kaito cherished the horrified look on that pompous blond before he was covered. _Purple hair and skin… that should do the trick for Ookami-sensei if he is who I think he is. As for that pompous Brit…_

"KAITO! WHY..." Aoko trailed off as she looked up in surprise. The unruly haired teen did the same, just as ten ravens that were circling around him burst into olive green smoke. Kaito could only give a surprised cry before he was covered. The two smokes mixed causing the entire classroom to be blinded.

After a bit of coughing, Aoko waved away the smoke, planning on giving that BaKaito a piece of her mind! She went toward what she was sure was his desk and slammed her hand down hard.

"Stop this NOW," she cried just in time as the smoke dissipated. And stared dumbfounded at the person sitting comfortably in Kaito's seat.

Sitting politely, arms crossed, right leg over left, purple hair and skin, and smirking, Ookami-sensei simply said, "Now _that_ was a magic trick, wouldn't you say, Kuroba-kun?"

The response, as the smoke had completely vanished, was two strangled cries. One came from a pink haired, pink frilly dress wearing former blond, fuming at first at the desk where Kaito was supposed to be and then turning his attention to the front of the classroom, righteous fury giving way to shock… with a hint of a smirk.

As for the other cry… it came from a certain prankster magician, standing in the same position where the teacher was moments before, in complete shock… with green hair, skin, and clothes blending neatly into the chalkboard.

* * *

Now it's getting interesting… We'll see the fallout from this next time on CvKvL.


	18. C18: The Playday II

Note: "**words in english"** ... that's it really.

* * *

Chapter 18: The Playday II – Battle of Tricks

It should be noted about the many ways a classroom full of rowdy and/or talkative children (or teenagers in this case) can be silenced. The most common ones are the teacher calling for attention. Another is special guests walking through the door. And another is in-classroom surprises, in this case and in this classroom, the Prank King striking again. (How the name came to be is unknown but legend stated that Kaito Kuroba himself spread and promoted the title, which fitted him well, if he do say so himself.)

What had just transpired had been nothing less than silence- inducing shock. The blond detective was dressed in all pink, hair and dress, yes, dress with frills and everything. But that was not new; the Brit was always a target for the Prank King. The substitute teacher, Ookami-sensei, had his hair and skin dyed as well. But that was also nothing new; the King always humiliated the teachers. What was new and the reason for the silence was that the Prank King himself was pranked and by who.

Aoko stood there dumfounded at the desk where her childhood friend should have been; instead, sat that reason with his purple color additions as he grinned and leaned back on the chair. That devil-may- care smirk tempered a bit as he looked at Aoko. He then gave a simple clap. "Bravo, Magician-san. You really had me in trouble there." The smugness was just radiating off him.

As for Hakuba… he was having a mild breakdown over the fact that he was pranked again and that he may have been wrong in his deductions. Specifically that Ookami-sensei may be the Phantom Thief that he accused Kuroba-kun in being.

He didn't understand this at all! Was he wrong about Kuroba-kun being Kid? If that was the case… then what about all of his other cases? He gave a hard glance at the teacher, who blinked and gave a sidelong look at the Brit. And then he did the most damnable (Pardon his language) thing possible; he _**grinned**_. That wasn't unusual. No, it purposely reminded him of that annoying Magician under the Moonlight. The glare darkened; the _**grin**_ widened.

"I'm impressed at the transformation, Kuroba-kun. If no one knows who he is then he would definitely look like a pretty young lady." An amused laugh radiated around the room. A series of British curses can be heard inside Hakuba's head and felt radiating off of him in waves. The _**grin**_ dialed up in wattage.

"Ookami-sensei?"

"Oh, Nakamouri-san," the teacher turned back to the girl. "The statue should be moving momentarily."

It was at this moment that said statue gave off another sound, this time full of amusement. With no words, Kuroba carefully placed the attendance sheet on the table (He had taken an unusual long time looking at the paper.) He quietly looked at his hands and clothes and sighed. With a bow, he snapped his fingers and the whole classroom once again filled with smoke. A series of coughs and smoke scatter later had the teacher and the student returning to their original places, minus the color additions. Hakuba was unfortunately still wearing that dress. After that Ookami-sensei clapped his hands together. Aoko blinked, stared at her childhood friend then rushed back to her seat before he began.

"Already, class, I must admit that was a fun beginning to this day, but I'm afraid that I must start teaching…" He raised an eyebrow. "May I help you Koizumi-san?" Indeed every head turned in the direction of the redhead near the back of the class. There was a rather sad look on her mildly tired face. Kaito privately wondered what was she up all night, maybe stirring up some witch's brew or something, cackling like mad with thoughts of getting 'her' Kaitou KID in her grasps. He suppressed a shudder.

"Can I speak to you alone, Sensei?" The teacher blinked and gave a quick glance to the magician. After a second of eye contact, he answered, turning his gaze on her, "After I do a little lesson first." She nodded, pleased. He nodded as well and picked up the book laying forgotten on the desk. Quickly flipping through the pages he frowned and then closed the book. He made a show of thinking then snapped his fingers. With a chalk in his hand and a sidelong glance at the detective, who felt a sense of foreboding, Ookami-sensei started to write on the board. Curious whispers circulated around the classroom as fellow students wondered what the teacher was planning; some wanting another magic trick. Those 'some' were unfortunately silenced by the strangely fuming Brit. _What is he planning? Why is he here, if he really is Kid? Is it just to mock me?_ His fist began to shake silently, helpfully hidden in his cumbersome bright dress.

The moment the playful teacher stopped writing on the board and showed the class, everyone stared. He didn't bother erasing his name and had instead written three simple sentences, in English, above it. Those who could understand it, a very few that include Kuroba and Hakuba, blinked in surprised. Rage was the only thing the half-Brit can feel; Kuroba just looked _very_ amused. "I have just written three sentences on the board, these are more to gauge your knowledge then an actual lesson. I suspect that most of you can read these romanji and so, except for Hakuba-kun, I want someone to read them to the best of your ability. I also want you to tell me the subject, object and verb if there is any and translate it to Japanese. Let's start with you." He points to a female student two seats behind Hakuba. She nervously rose from her seat.

"An so, za batooru biginsu. Za porisu waru feeru waaru za shiifusu waru sakkushiido. Pooru ditekkuchibusu!"

"**Good, good!** But enunciate a bit more." The teacher-thief pointed to a male student at the left side of the room, who also nervously rose, and read the words, albeit a bit better than the first. He chose two more students until finally he chose the manically grinning Kaito. At being picked he confidently rose from his seat, and with a flourish said, with a glance at the detective,

"**And so the battle begins. The police will fail while the thieves will succeed. Poor Detectives!**" He looked at Ookami-sensei expectantly.

"**Excellent!**" the teacher clapped, which sparked showers of confetti all over the prankster's desk. The four students who answered before gasped to see a small pile of candy on theirs. "That's for trying! Now for grammar!" He pointed at Aoko, who rose slowly.

She fidgeted for a bit before answering, "The first two sentences have just the subject and the verb. The first sentence has 'battle' as the subject and 'begins' as the verb. The second has 'police' and 'thieves' as the subjects and 'will fail' and 'will succeed' as the verbs. The third sentence is an exclamation." She stared at Ookami-sensei. He snapped his fingers and a small bouquet of flowers appeared in her hands with a poof! The unruly-haired teen glared at him, who smiled back. Ookami-sensei then pointed, expectedly, at the Brit, "Can you translate these for me?"

With a glare that could melt iron and a pointed refusal to rise from his seat, clutching the dress for all its worth, he muttered, loud enough to be heard, "Soshite, tatakai ga hajimarimasu. Dorobō wa seikō shimasuga, keisatsu wa shippai shimasu. Mazushī tantei!" Eyes widened in realization and small looks were turned the blonde's way which were quickly sidelined by the tranquil fury radiating off him in waves.

Grinning and outright ignoring the murderous look he was receiving, the teacher turned to Koizumi-san and nodded. With a returning nod, the red-head walked out the door with him following. When the door slid closed, the tense quiet room exploded.

"Wow, Kuroba! That was a neat trick!"

"Did you involve Ookami-sensei, too?"

"Do you know each other?"

The magician grinned for all his worth and answered each with an air of grace. Noticing the contemplative look on the detective, and wondering to himself what that witch wanted with the teacher, he strolled over to Hakuba's desk and sat on it. The Brit twitched and looked up.

"Hakuba-kun?" The teen seemed to be hesitating, thoughts swirling around his head. _I wonder what's wrong._

Appearing to come to a painful decision, he stared at Kaito, and murmured, "I apologize for trying to accuse you for being Kid."

What…

Blinking hard, the magician waited for the punch line…. It didn't come. "Do my ears deceive me? Has a certain 'I'm always right' detective finally admits he had made a mistake?" Hakuba grumbled and sunk lower into his seat, hampered by the dress.

"Can you change me back now?"

"No, that's punishment for mocking me. I wonder what changed you mind? It's not like…!" Kaito schooled his expression into one of pure shock. "You don't thi-!"

BAM! The slight rattle of the blurry window out the door caused a few of the students, Hakuba, Aoko, and Kaito included, to rush out to see Ookami-sensei staring at Akako with a blank expression while the witch herself, leaning against that window, looked at the 'teacher' with slightly wide eyes.

"Sensei?"

The bi-speckled teacher turned in their direction. Those scary shiny glasses returned as he walked to the door. "I'm sorry to disturb your little break, kids. It seems our chat is over, Koizumi-san, so if you please." He gave a graceful bow and gestured towards the door. The witch gave a slight twitch, flicking her hair back (and getting most of the boys in the class to swoon.), and walked past him to the door, but not before muttering something that caused one of his eyebrows to rise as he looked at her. Everyone else rushed to their seats as the teacher reentered. Kaito frowned slightly at the two as they took their respective positions. What was that noise? It sounded like something was slammed hard into the wall. And the way the two looked…. Did that witch did or say something to him to anger him? He didn't know and this day was not the day to ask that much. The witch will not be ruining this day of days.

He needs a little pick-me-up, and Kaito did not like that blank expression on his face. It was now his turn. It will start with his hand raised.

"Kuroba-kun?"

Rising and staring hard at the Ookami-sensei, he purred in a curtain _woman_'s voice, "'Are you okay, Oo-ka-mi-san ~? You seem worried, I'll make it aaall better~!" And with a poof, smoke surrounded the teen to reveal a brown-haired woman with rather large assets…. Most of the boys gaped and swooned louder at the figure while the girls cried in shock. Hakuba's eyes twitched. It twitched again when 'she' blew a kiss in the teacher's direction.

"BAKAITO! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?" shrieked Nakamouri-chan. The Brit wondered himself. But the actual surprise was the teacher. His glasses fogged up and went a little askew, as he gave a very goofy grin at 'her'. He suddenly appeared in front of the long haired brunet 'woman'. Even Kuroba-kun blinked in the near teleportation. He eyed her near hungrily and then blinked, staring specifically at his chest. He poked one of those … assets. Aoko nearly sputtered in indignation at the gesture. Kaito blinked curiously at him.

"Anything wrong, Ookami-san?"

"She's an F not a D. Your hair is about a few centimeters too short, and her eyes are a slightly lighter brown." But he nodded as he continued to mutter only to the person in front of him, "So realistic though, nearly got me."

"YOU CAN TELL?" the magician somewhat squeaked. Dejected, Kaito pulled off the disguise and sat back in his seat… just as he jumped up and over a mop swing from a now enraged Aoko. With the Mop and Chase going on again, the English teacher quietly looked at the chase in actual wonder. It was not surprising in Hakuba's opinion. The teacher's first encounter involved a near head injury and an introduction late in the end.

The Brit wondered what that look was that Ookami-sensei gave the disguised Kuroba-kun. It looked like lust; but why? It might be that he knew that appearance… But if that's the case, how the magician had knew about her…. It was leading credence to the solution being that they knew each other… And this was starting to bother him, if he believed that this man was Kid. He frowned; there was something off about this day.

To the ex-blonde's horror, he noticed the dark grin on the magician's face with a sense of foreboding (he's been feeling a lot of these lately). _Oh bother, Kuroba-kun, what are you up to now?_

Kaito landed in front of Ookami-sensei and just as Aoko swung, vanished with a poof, ending up with the teacher once again a target for the female brunet's wrath-swing.

WHACK!

The classroom winced at the resounding hit and a pointed silence could be felt as Aoko stood there dumbstruck with a vengeful Kaito appearing next to her. Hakuba was surprised to see the teacher… Kid… hit on the dead center of his forehead; he would have expected him to dodge like before.

"Ookami-sensei?" chirped Kuroba-kun sarcastically.

"Oh no! Gomenasai!" cried Nakamouri-chan as she pulled back and bowed twice. Both teens frowned at the frozen man, Kuroba-kun going so far as to poke him. "Ookami-sensei?"

The man's body shuddered and to the horrified stares of the students, ballooned then burst, showering everyone with hand-sized odd-shaped somethings. Scowling at the newest trick, the detective picked that something up from his desk.

And blinked.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

He saw the normally grinning magician doing a very good impression of a person in the middle of a seizure. Left eye twitching, a full body shaking and quivering lips giving off whimpers… wait…. Hakuba stared once again at the item in his hands. _It can't be…_.

A… toy… fish…?

The entire classroom was covered with the toys. Kuroba-kun's twitching became more violent until his eyes rolled back and he crumpled in a heap.

"Kaito-kun!" cried some of the students.

"Kaito!" cried Nakamouri-chan.

"My, my, that was unexpected!" The classroom gasped and turned to the back of the class where indeed the teacher casually leaned on the wall. There was amusement that overrode the shock on his voice and face. Walking to the front of the room, he gave an innocent blink. Bending down, he straightened the boy until he was face up on the floor. With that infuriating _**grin**_, he snapped his fingers. Most of the toys vanished with a poof, leaving the few surrounding Kuroba-kun.

"Chop, chop," chirped the man as he clapped. Low whirs were heard as the things began to move, circle around the unconscious magician, and drove under him. He clapped again and the teen rose a few centimeters. "Nakamouri-san, it seems our playtime is over," he said with a slight pout. "I've broken the poor fellow, so can you guide my toys to the nurse's office?" At her dubious expression, he added, "**Don't worry!** They're very capable. As punishment for your antics today, you two will receive extra homework, understand? I am planning on visiting him later, so I'll tell him later when he wakes up."

"Hai," Nakamouri-chan nodded. She and the rest watched as the prankster was carted out of the classroom; she followed.

Clapping for the student's attention, Ookami-sensei said with a faint smile, "We only have about twenty minutes of class left, so please open your textbook to page…"

Hakuba tuned out the rest of his lecture, thoughts and theories swirling in his head. Placing his evidence in a bullet point pattern he came out with a few facts about what in the world just happened this moment….

A) The introduction of the substitute teacher

B) The bombshell that he was acting like and was most likely Kaitou Kid

C) Kuroba-kun's tricks were a little more flair-ish

D) Ookami-sensei not only reversing the tricks but actually 'one-upping' the magician

E) How both of them looked like they knew each other

F) Ookami-sensei's name, very unusual

G) The teacher's statement that their 'playtime' was over

The Britton pinched his nose. He hasn't figured out anything yet but if he had to guess…

Kuroba-kun and Ookami-sensei were competing with each other with pranks at the expense of the class.

… A vein made its presence known on the side of the teen's head.

… Oh, those two will pay dearly, mark his words!

* * *

- That's the end. For those of you wondering about the actual sentence, it's "そして、戦いが始まります。泥棒は成功しますが、警察は失敗します。貧しい探偵 ！" Right now I have checked and rechecked to have that be as accurate as possible.

- I adore the fact that people are favorite-ing and alerting this story, but please review.

- In the next chapter, as we rewind the clock, in a span of one hour, Ran is suspicious … again, a death is announced and a dark past comes to haunt. See you next time on CvKvL!


	19. C19: La Persistance de la Mémoire II

Chapter 19: La Persistance de la Mémoire : Consciousness

**Nous rembobinons l'horloge à avant le chapitre 17. Ces événements interviennent entre les heures de six et sept dans la matinée Vendredi.**

_This was it, then._

_Not extremely unexpected, but he underestimated _her. _And now here he was, surrounded by at least five men with repeating guns while he had a six shot. _

_Damn._

_Oh, well. He quietly lowered his cap. Luckily he put on a mask tough enough to resist pulling, pinching, and was thin enough to allow his real skin to be scratched. All after he said his goodbyes…._

_Closing his eyes for a second, a flash of Shiho-chan and Akemi-chan crossed his mind. _ I'm so sorry I can no longer be there… but you're safer with them then with me… success or failure this was going to happen anyway. And I rather you don't see this end.

Although… I don't know if this is _my_ end.

_He noticed that there were a few snipers on the higher roofs. He smirked. He might as well have fun with this._

_He stood straighter, staring down his would-be executioners. There was enough light to shadow his eyes but not his mouth and the smirk grew more manic. He opened his arms wide._

"_What are you waiting for?" he simply said, his voice carrying even to the snipers. "I'm a traitor and you know what _that person_ does to some traitors, especially ones that were after _his_ life! Well?" After each word, the smile grew more manic to the point where it was completely unhinged, even scaring some of the shooters. He lifted his head to the point where his eyes could be somewhat seen, full of madness and further scaring those closest. He had to chuckle to himself. He had to admit, his acting was really good._

Do you honestly think that this is all acting?

_He ignored that stray thought, instead waiting for the men to lift their weapons, aim, and fire, all the while starting to laugh, so full of brutal insanity and cold calmness as bullets hit him almost everywhere. He was a living contradiction, he knew as he hit the wall and slid down._

_With a smile on his face, it was here that Champagne died._

XXXXXXXXXX

**À Six Heures le Matin**

Waking up to the growing light of the early morning sun, Ran Mouri yawned and quietly shook her head, her long brown hair a mess. Frowning and hoping that she won't get knots in her hair (She checked; she won't), she turned to her Osakan friend as she slept peacefully. She smiled and rose out of bed, leaving Kazuha-chan to essentially take over the only bed in her room. The girls had decided to sleep in Ran's room while Tou-san and the boys had futons in the living room. She was going to have to wake them up so they can have an early breakfast before her and Conan-kun get ready for school today.

Lucky Kazuha-chan and Hattori-kun.

After heading to the bathroom to freshen up, she checked in the living room to see how the men are doing, a loud snore telling her that at least her father was sound asleep. Peeking through the door confirmed that for her, as well as chuckling at Hattori-kun's relaxed expression despite the disturbance. Ran saw what suspiciously looked like plugs in his ears. She still chuckled, which stopped when she noticed her little charge was nowhere to be found.

"Conan-kun?" she whispered. How silly of her. Conan-kun wouldn't have heard her with her father in the room. Frowning she tip-toed from the room and wandered a bit to Tou-san's room, maybe to get away from that man. A quick peek told her that he wasn't there either. Her frown became more pronounced as a little spark of panic coursed through her veins.

Where are you, Conan-kun?

If searching the apartment was fruitless then maybe...

Quietly walking down the stairs she stood in front of the office door. Ran gently pressed her hand to the door and pushed, twisting the knob. She was surprised that it opened. Wasn't it supposed to be locked for the night? Slowly she entered to see the boy sleeping soundly on Tou-san's chair. She silently walked closer to see his rather peacefully dosing face without the glasses.

Not for the first time did an image of young Shin'ichi superimposed itself on Conan-kun. She wasn't shocked anymore when it happened. At first she thought that definitely Conan-kun was that missing detective geek but time and time again she was proven wrong. Now she didn't know anymore what to believe.

_Conan-kun, I do wonder-_

_!?_

She noticed two cell phones on the work desk not far in front of the child. Wondering about this she quietly picked up the two. Stilling herself and giving cautious glances at the sleeping child, she crept back up the stairs only to retrieve her phone, climbed back down the stairs and hid herself in the office's bathroom closing and locking the door.

Sitting on the toilet lid she flipped open both phones, faintly happy that they weren't in this case password protected and then paused.

What was she thinking? Going into Conan-kun's personal business...

You're worried about him, that's all, she thought to herself. With the KID and Lupin heist only tomorrow, the mini-detective in training would of course be stressed out over this, the elder newcomer specifically targeting him and Hattori-kun. Maybe he was down here to check his phones, but why does he have two? Ran, frowning and determined, looked through the first phone's history, the latest text from Ai-chan, the serious strawberry-blonde girl who she felt was quite similar to Conan-kun. Scrolling down she saw other calls and text that told her that this may by the young boy's phone. Satisfied, she turned to the other phone and scrolled down the list to see an unregistered number first. Curious, she read it.

… And covered her mouth to stop a gasp.

What?! Ran couldn't understand this; what does this mean by crows, silver bullet, and focal point. Who was this 'C'? Confused and a little fearful, she stared at the door at the sleeping child.

_Is this really Conan-kun's phone...?_

She bit her lip and took out her phone, slowly breathing. This was now the chance to see some evidence.

The last time she tried this she was mistaken, but now...

She scrolled down her registered list and stopped at a familiar number...

Shin'ichi's.

She only hesitated for a second before pressing her call button... and nearly dropped the phone in surprise as it vibrated. Ran quickly pressed buttons to reveal that indeed the receiving call said 'Ran'.

_What... Conan-kun, why do you have Shin'ichi's phone? Did he give it to you? Or are you...?_

She stopped that thought. All those times...

"Why are you lying to me, Conan-kun? What are you hiding?" she whispered as she wiped the tears streaming down her face. The girl shook her head and glared hard at the phones. She made sure, after ending her call to delete 'Shin'ichi's' phone's recent history of her call. Quickly rushing out the bathroom door, she placed the phones back on the desk and quickly left the room reaching the third floor and her room. Hands shaking she placed her phone on her nightstand. What was she going to do? She wasn't going to tell Kazuha-chan this or Sonoko. Right now she needed to take her time to understand what's happening. And if that text is to be believed, something bad will happen at the heist/party.

She then noticed the time on her phone.

"Ahh, it's 6:20! I forgot to make breakfast!"

Rushing out to the kitchen, she made a quick breakfast involving eggs and rice, the smell eliciting groans and mumbles from the men in the living room and an already freshened up Kazuha-chan appearing next to her.

"Mornin', Ran-chan!"

"Kazuha-chan!" The girl smiled at her best friend as the female Osakan started to take out the plates for the group.

Her father was the first to enter the kitchen with a frown. "Have ya seen the brat? He wasn't in the room with us. I checked my room."

"Pro'bly went downstairs ta get away from ya snorin'." The man gave a dark growl to Hattori-kun's direction.

"I'm finished with breakfast so I'll wake him." She let the other girl do the rest as Ran left the room and went to the door of the office… and hesitated.

She still didn't know what to think. Conan-kun… no, Shin'ichi, was lying to her, but why? Her vision blurred again with tears and she quickly wiped them away.

_Alright, Shin'ichi. I don't understand why you're hiding from me and what bad things are happening around you, but for now I'll let it be. But I will be watching you. And I will figure this out!_

Shaking her head, she knocked hard on the door. "Conan-kun! Breakfast is ready!"

A startled yelp and a thud later, she heard a timid, "Ran-neechan?"

With a faint smile, she opened the door to see a red-faced Conan-kun just getting up from the floor behind the desk.

"Couldn't get any sleep from Tou-san, hm?" she chuckled. A deeper splash of red was her answer. "It's alright. It's time for breakfast, so go freshen up. We also need to go to school."

"Hai!" The … child rushed past her, halfway up the steps before a sound interrupted the process. She faintly noted that the phones were missing and was most likely where the noise came from.

He took out one of them, _Conan's_, she thought, and answered with a slight frown. "Haibara… what's wrong?"

_Ai-chan? I wonder if she's calling in sick._ His frown deepened before his eyes widened. Ran looked on worriedly.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN OKIYA-SAN IS DEAD?"

**A Six Heures et Demie Du Matin**

"The victim is 25-year-old Suguru Okiya. He's a university student who has been staying in Kudou-kun's home for a few months because his original apartment had burned down. The Shounen Tantei-dan had helped solved the case and Conan-kun offered the house for his temporary stay. The time of the murder was between 1:00 and 2:00 in the morning. The cause of death was a gunshot to the forehead, killing him instantly."

Wataru looked at his superior as the other officers around him took pictures of the crime scene and other procedures. He quietly glanced at the two people who phoned in the crime.

"Agasa-hakase was visiting the house to borrow some eggs for breakfast and he noticed the door was unlocked. He came across the body in the living room and immediately called us, isn't that right?" He turned to said portly professor and he quietly nodded.

Megure-keibu looked around and blinked. "Where's Haibara-chan?"

"She went back in the house to tell Conan-kun." The inspector gave a _very_ audible sigh, while both Wataru and the professor gave weak chuckles.

"We searched around the crime scene and the only clues we have is this next to the body." The detective indicated one of those fancy wine glasses that are commonly used in those expensive parties. Wataru wondered if the heist/party will have those.

"The investigators found no fingerprints on the wine glass," stated Satou-san, standing in front of the body, with a frown.

"Something wrong?"

She turned to her superior, "Sometimes when people are killed their faces sometimes show the last expression they had before death, right?" There are indicating nods. "It looks like he faced his killer or killers and looked very afraid of them." She turned to look at them. "He maybe knows them."

"KEIBU-DONO!"

Megure-keibu flinched before turning to the source of the cry. Mouri-san looked out of breath and wide eyed as he entered the house, Ran-chan, Conan-kun, and the Osakans following behind. "Conan told us what he heard from that Haibara girl! Is there anything I can do to help?"

With another sigh, the keibu gestured for the men to look at the crime scene themselves, maybe he could get a fresh perspective.

"Ya couldn't find the murder weapon?" asked Hattori-kun. Satou-san shook her head.

"Dusted for prints and everything."

"The killer probably knew what he was doing." murmured the oldest detective.

"Nee, Oji-san?" Conan-kun gave a look said detective, "I wonder why that glass was left there if that person knew what he was doing?"

The timid detective watched in fascination as Mouri-san was about to tell the child off until his eyes widened. Conan-kun done it again, he thought, giving little hints that lead to realizations. It was another tally to the enigma that was Conan Edogawa. He had also followed that train of thought. It could be a dying message, a false clue… or a calling card. Megure-keibu frowned before taking out his cellphone.

"Keibu-dono?" Mouri-san was ignored.

"Do you know what's going on?" murmured a female child's voice. Wataru nearly jumped at Haibara-chan being right next to him. She nearly gave him a heart attack!

"That wine glass…" piped in Hattori-kun. "There are a variety of sizes an' shapes ta match wit' ta type of wines that exist." He quietly picked up said glass. As far as the detective knew, he had only seen probably two or three types; he didn't think there are that many!

"There all the same to me," muttered Satou-san, smirking at Wataru. He had to stomp on the blush that threatened to appear. He honestly wished that Shiratori-san was here. Since his family was wealthy, he was sure that they had social parties having these things. Unfortunately he was with Nakamouri-keibu and Zenigata-keibu at trying to figure out how the thief Lupin infiltrated the precinct.

"Champagne."

Eyes focused on the bi-speckled boy who had snatched the glass from the male Osakan. He noticed Haibara-san's eyes widened while Ran-chan's eyes thinned.

"How did you know that?" asked Satou-san. Blinking rapidly, like a switch, the child gave a childish laugh while having his hand behind his head. "Hehehe, I saw it on TV. These are usually used for regular champagne drinks. The top part of the glass to hold the drink is usually slender for the concentration of bubbles for the drink."

"I thought so." Everyone turned to Megure-keibu as he stared at the evidence bag in the child's hands. Satou-san nodded and quietly took it back.

"Thought what, Keibu-dono?"

"Mouri-kun, do you remember a case years ago which involves this?" It took a few seconds for the detective to frown. The keibu sighed as he continued, "Years ago there was a series of unsolved assassinations where the only clue to be found were those glasses. He or she disappeared some time after that."

"Ya saying that the killer is probably a copycat or that un-retired assassin?" asked Kazuha-chan. The keibu nodded.

"I just got off the phone with Zenigata-keibu to see if he stumbled across these similar murders during his travels. He said he'll look into it." He looked at the civilian group. "Were you able to contact Kudou-kun about what has happened in his house?"

"Not at this time," Hakase stated. "He was busy."

"Sou ka." He turned to Ran-chan. "Isn't it time to go to school?"

A pause…

"AHHHHH!" cried Ran-chan, "I forgot!" She hesitated and looked at her father. Mouri-san sighed.

"You'll stay home or something," with an added scowl he added, "I have to call your school or something, right?" He began to mutter as he took out his phone and dialed Ran's school. At the same time, Ran used her phone to call Conan-kun's school with Hakase frowning as he took out his phone to call the same elementary school for Haibara-chan's absence.

After a few minutes, the three people closed their respective phones with slight sighs.

"For now, since there isn't much to find, we need to figure out why he was targeted in the first place," Megure-keibu stated. With a nod, Mouri-san and his superior began to talk among themselves.

Satou-san quietly gave a gentle squeeze to his arm and whispered, "Maybe we should postpone our date until later, hm?" He gave a relaxed sigh and nodded. She returned the nod and walked away from the young officer, helping with some of the evidence gathering. Wataru noticed that the professor, Conan-kun, Haibara-chan and Hattori-kun were talking among themselves. He noticed the serious little girl had a strange frantic look on her face, the males surrounding her held different levels of panic on their own faces.

"The party."

Wataru had to once again resist jumping as the girl belonging to that pained and quiet voice (Why did she sound so sad?) stared at the small group. "Ran-san?"

She looked back at him, with a sad smile on her face. It only stayed for a second before becoming happier. "Nothing, Takegi-keiji." She turned and left before he could say anything.

Was there something going on here?

XXXXXXXXXXX

_Shiho quietly waited at the top of a tall building, her hair blowing in the wind. This was one of the few times that she could be alone like this, without those mean people surrounding her. This was the same place Akemi-neechan stated that she stayed with; it was too bad that those people took her away again to train her._

_She clutched her young fists._

"_Shiho-chan?"_

_She turned in surprise to see Onii-chan quietly looking at her. She was disappointed that he didn't show his real face, but she didn't mind._

"_Akemi-neechan said she came here yesterday and you and her did something cool!" She pouted. "I wanna do that cool thing too!"_

_Nii-san was wearing the face of an older girl and 'she' was smirking a little. 'She' said in a similar voice, "I was going to do that anyway, Shiho-chan~!" The little girl noticed that the kind care taker was dressed in all black… and had straps on 'her' shoulders and in front of 'her', did it have something to do with that cool thing her sister told her but didn't say anymore?_

"_What are those?"_

_The caretaker's smile widened as 'she' walked up to Shiho… and picked her up. The strawberry blonde noticed that Nii-chan was wearing a backpack._

_What was Onii-chan planning?_

"_Harness straps to carry someone, to leave my hands free for the next part. You want to face me or not?"_

_Shiho shook her head and as such she was turned to face the beautiful evening sky. She was slipped in and felt those straps tightened until they were almost painful._

"_It's to make sure you don't fall out."_

_As Nii-chan walked closer and closer to the building's ledge, he continued, quietly in his own voice. "I've been meaning to take you both to this spot so I could do this at the same time. But I've been so busy..." She felt his arms tighten. With a smile, she pats his arms and looked back at the mildly surprised look._

"_It's alright, Nii-san! At least you're here now!" She then blinked when she noticed that they were standing at the ledge. Shiho began to shake. Why were they near the edge? Where they going to..._

_She mentally shook herself. Onii-chan wasn't like that!_

"_Don't worry; I won't let anything harm you?" Those words made her relax. "I suggest you close your eyes otherwise they may be affected by this." 'She' spread 'her' arms wide. "We're going to fly!"_

_Without warning, the girl felt the wind on her face (Eyes closed). She could barely breathe and her heart was beating faster. Shiho tried to calm down along with the calm heartbeat of her brother. She risked a glance to see what she thought was the rushing wind. And nearly let out a shriek._

_The gray-black ground was rushing to meet her and a part of her screamed that Onii-chan was going to do something despicable. But she calmed down again._

"_Onii—"_

"_Few more seconds."_

_She stayed silent until she heard him cry in his voice, "And now, I give you Shiho-chan, flight!" A small fluttering sound was heard; she quickly clutched her harness before she felt her body jerk a little painfully… and they weren't falling any more._

_She looked back and gave out a gasp and a happy giggle at the black hang-glider on her friend's back and looked all around her at the buildings and the ground with the cars and people going past her._

_So this is what Akemi-neechan meant as she gave that smile! It's so fun and cool but…_

"_Nii-chan?"_

"_Hmm?" She looked back to see a look of seriousness on his face. He was thinking about controlling the glider but she can tell she had his attention._

"_How long have you known how to fly?"_

"… _Taught myself."_

"_Um…" After the small pause she decided to plow on, hoping that she didn't offend her big brother. "Where did you get that glider?"_

_She looked back to see a scowl on his face. _Oh no! I made Onii-chan upset!_ She was about to say sorry to him until…_

"_Some annoyance mocked and 'improved' my skills and gave this—" and he twitched his head at the glider "—as 'compensation'."_

_A giggle at his fond mumblings. "Who?"_

"_Some stupid annoying magician."_

XXXXXXXXXXX

**À ****sept heures moins quatorze du matin**

_So what are you going to do?_

He stared at his reflection in the mirror, brushing his teeth.

'Do what?'

_About the party?_ The refection spoke back, a frown on his face.

'The usual.'

_That's not good enough, you know. That bitch will be there, Ai-chan will be there, and Silver Bullet-kun will be there. And if that … woman is there, then __**they**__ will be there. They probably figured out that Bourbon is dead already. _ The reflection smirked, showing canines.

'I wonder why though?'

_I'm sure some of the guests are members already. I wouldn't be surprised if the birthday boy knows **them**._

He sighed and turned on the faucet. He quietly stared at the flowing water. For a second it went out of focus and he had to blink and pinch his nose to return it to normal.

_You're falling apart._

He didn't respond; he simply spat out the toothpaste and rinsed out his mouth.

_What are you going to do about that other bitch, the traitorous one?_

'…'

_What? No response? You usually try to defend her! Why the change of heart?_

He returned looking at the mirror; the reflection holding a hint of concern but at the same time faintly smirking. He scowled.

'I need to see myself.'

_You didn't deny it._

'…'

The reflection chuckled. It sounded dry and cold. _Well then, I'll leave you to the rest of your day then. It's going to be a _very _fun day._

It took a few seconds to see his reflection being back to normal as he gave a long slow exhale and left the bathroom to another room. He quietly stared at a stack of files and smiled sharply. He looked at his watch to see that it was almost seven.

The smile sharpened further. If he started now….

XXXXXXXXXXXX

_Il sourit à son reflet dans le miroir. _

"_Mon frère, qu'est-ce que tu fais?" Elle a demandé, un sourcil levé._

_"Rendez-vous avec une jolie femme ~." Il se tourna vers elle et écarta les bras. "Eh bien?"_

_"Tacky". Elle se retourne et ignore sa moue, pour rentrer à son ordinateur. « Qui est-elle?"_

_"Une belle, blonde, actrice débutante, nommé Sharon!" Il a donné un sourire lubrique comme il a ajouté: "Elle a également le plus grand ..." Le sourire s'élargit comme il agita ses doigts._

"_Tout comme le Père!"_

_"Aww, ne sois pas comme ça, je vais faire une bonne première impression pour elle!"_

_Elle sourit doucement à lui, "Amusez-vous bien!"_

_Il fronça légèrement les sourcils, "Serez-vous d'accord? Vous avez été hacking non-stop pour ..."_

_Elle secoua la tête. "Je vais bien. J'ai presque fini de toute façon et vous avez besoin que la prochaine étape pour être un« gentleman »de toute façon. Ce n'est pas que vous allez réussir ou quoi que ce soit."_

_"Ha, ha, ha."_

_Il fit un geste d'adieu comme il est parti et a fermé la porte de leur atelier seul étage. Elle le regarda tranquillement à la porte fermée, serrant les disques cachés dans ses mains. Avec des doigts tremblants et des larmes dans les yeux, elle a placé les disques dans un récipient résistant au feu. Elle l'a caché juste à temps comme cette porte même cogné ouverte, laissant entrer un groupe d'hommes vêtus de noir._

"_Je suis désolé, mon frère."_

* * *

_And thus ends another chapter. Next up, we go back to the present and after the battle… two groups meet for the first time. What will happen? Who knows?_


End file.
